The use of waterpipe tobacco has increased in recent years due to its growing popularity and the availability of flavored shisha. The class of compounds known as pyrazines contribute to the aromatic profile of the smoke, but also contribute to some negative health effects from smoking. Pyrazines are formed via the Maillard Browning reaction between amines and sugars that occurs during the curing of the tobacco leaf and in the smoking process, but they can also be added as flavorants to create a specific flavored smoke profile. A method was developed for pyrazine extraction from shisha samples involving headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with analysis on a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (HS-SPME-GCMS). This technique has previously been used to identify pyrazines in other similar matrices. Extraction conditions were optimized to maximize pyrazine concentrations on the SPME fiber. The optimal conditions include a 30-minute extraction at 75°C for each sample. A total of 10 pyrazines were qualitatively identified across 7 flavors, but only 4 pyrazines (methylpyrazine, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine, ethylpyrazine, and trimethylpyrazine) were quantified due to not easily avoidable interferences in the sample matrix. Concentrations were determined by comparison to a linear calibration curve and interweek and intraday reproducibility were calculated. Further research will need to be done to detect every pyrazine present in some flavors.

Determination of pyrazines in shisha

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