Development of a new methanethiol quantification method using ethanethiol as an internal standard

Development of a new method to quantify methanethiol in which ethanethiol was employed as an internal standard is reported. Recovery yields for methanethiol from an aqueous model system and a soy protein concentrate (SPC) aqueous slurry determined with this method ranged from 97 to 107% and from 103 to 121%, respectively. The methanethiol content of two commercial SPCs and two commercial soy protein isolate (SPI) samples, on a dry basis, ranged from 835 to 1190 times greater than the odor threshold for methanethiol. Relative standard deviations for quantifying methanethiol with the method from these samples were <5%, indicating its good reproducibility in quantifying methanethiol from soy protein products. Also investigated in the current study was the feasibility of using 5′,5-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB, Ellman's reagent) to determine the concentration of methanethiol in the aqueous solutions used to prepare the standard curve for quantifying methanethiol from soy protein products. The concentrations of methanethiol obtained from Ellman's reagent method were comparable with those from a weighing method and theoretical calculation.