Chloroanisoles and Other Chlorinated Compounds in Cork from Different Geographical Areas

Cork quality is crucial for the fabrication of corks intended to be used to seal wine bottles. This work has focused on the determination of chloroanisoles (CAs)—exogenous compounds with a low perception threshold—in cork. The identification and quantification of these compounds was carried out with Bond Elut-ENV solid phase extraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. Cork samples were obtained from oaks from Catalonia, Extremadura and Italy, and the presence of CAs was evaluated. Moreover, cork affected by the presence of yellow stains (a defect present in cork, mainly originated from the growth of the fungus Armillaria mellea) was analysed separately. The results obtained from cork macerates revealed the presence of trichloroanisole (TCA) in Catalan and Italian cork. Furthermore, TCA concentration was not statistically different when comparing cork affected and non-affected by the growth of A. mellea. Other chlorinated compounds were identified by comparison of their mass spectra with the data from the NIST library.