Sample preparation for determination of water taste and odor compounds: A review

The presence and the concentration of taste and odor compounds are important parameters of drinking water quality. They have extremely low odor thresholds that requires their determination at levels below the capabilities of the analytical instrumentation, unless an enrichment process is added to the procedure. Several variations of solid- and liquid-phase (micro)extraction techniques have been developed to improve the classical approaches, in terms of lower sample volumes, less solid or liquid extraction phases, automatization, and enhanced analytical figures of merit. The present review covers the articles on development and application of such sample preparation techniques, prior to chromatographic analysis, for determination of taste and odor compounds in aqueous media, published over the range of 2005−2020. The most frequently observed compounds have been classified and discussed in three groups of (i) geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol, (ii) methoxypyrazine derivatives, and (iii) haloanisoles, and miscellaneous compounds have been collected in a single category.