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Characterization of Volatile Organic Compounds in Bovine Breath Using Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Paper number  034031,  2003 ASAE Annual Meeting . (doi: 10.13031/2013.14092) @2003
Authors:   Jarett P. Spinhirne, Jacek A. Koziel, and Norbert K. Chirase
Keywords:   SPME, GC-MS, breath, cattle, biomarkers, sampling, volatile organic compounds

A face mask sampling device, DVB/Carboxen/PDMS 50/30 m solid phase microextraction (SPME) fibers, and a gas chromatograph with a mass spectrometer detector (GCMS) were used for sampling and analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in bovine breath. Breath of 3 morbid steers with respiratory tract infections and 3 healthy steers were sampled 7 times in 19 days for 15 min at each sampling. A total of 21 VOCs were detected, many of them for the first time in cattle breath. Preliminary statistical analyses using Chi-square Test on the frequency of detection of each VOC in each group was performed. The presence of acetaldehyde (P = 0.05) and decanal (P = 0.10) were associated more with clinically morbid steers while methyl acetate, heptane, octanal, 2,3-butadione, hexanoic acid, and phenol were associated with healthy steers at P = 0.1. The results suggest that noninvasive heath screening using breath analyses could become a useful diagnostic tool for detecting sick and healthy cattle.

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