Determination of methyl salicylate in black tea.

A method was developed for detn. of methyl salicylate in tea by hot extraction with n-hexane, evaporation of the solvent, steam distillation of the resinous residue to obtain the volatile oil, and quantitative GLC using pure compound as standard. 56.0-62.5% recoveries were obtained from 5-50 mg. The low recoveries are attributed to loss during solvent removal and steam distillation. Samples containing 6-12 ppm were rated high in terms of flavour acceptability. Effect on overall quality of tea was beneficial up to 10 ppm, but detrimental at greater than 20 ppm. 10-15% added methyl salicylate was lost during 1 month storage under normal conditions.