BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 193 IHSS&IWA26 / BRNO / CZECHIA / 23–28 August 2026 Hall A Poster Session / Soil Organic Matter, Caustobiolites, and Biochar P2.3 Rapid Chemical Profiling of Scottish Peat by Evolved Gas Analysis-Mass Spectrometry Yasuro Fuse1, Xue Chu1, Naoya Takeda1, Nobuhide Fujitake2, Shintaro Yanaka2, Kohji Maeda1 1 Department of Molecular Chemistry and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Goshokaido-cho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; fuse@environ.kit.ac.jp 2 Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan Introduction Peat is a chemically complex organic material formed by the slow accumulation of partially decomposed plant matter under waterlogged, anaerobic conditions. In the Scotch whisky industry, peat is burned to dry germinated barley, and phenolic compounds released during pyrolysis impart the characteristic smoky aroma [2]. However, peat composition varies with geographic origin, complicating quality control and flavor reproducibility. Existing methods such as Py-GC/MS provide detailed molecular data but are time-intensive. Evolved gas analysis– mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) eliminates the chromatographic step and generates a temperature-resolved thermogram of evolved gases, offering a practical rapidscreening alternative [3]. Materials and Methods Peat core samples were collected from three locations in Scotland (St. 1–3) in November 2019. All analyses used a GCMS system (QP2010 Ultra, Shimadzu) interfaced with a multi-shot pyrolyzer (EGA/PY-3030D, Frontier Labs). For EGA-MS, ca. 1.0 mg of peat was heated from 150 to 600 °C at 15 °C/ min; evolved gases passed directly into the MS via an inert capillary line (split 1:30). For stepwise Py-GC/MS, pyrolysis was divided into five temperature intervals (150–225, 225–300, 300–375, 375–450, 450–600 °C); each fraction was cryogenically trapped and separated on a capillary column. Humification degree was determined by the Kaila method, and CHN elemental analysis was performed on all vertical samples (triplicate measurements). Results and Discussion EGA-MS thermograms showed three major decomposition peaks in the 225–450 °C range. Six highintensity marker ions were assigned to distinct compound classes: m/z 60 (polysaccharide-derived anhydrosugars), m/z 83 and 85 (aliphatic hydrocarbons), m/z 84 and 114 (nitrogenous organic matter), and m/z 91 (aromatic, ligninderived compounds). These assignments were validated by stepwise Py-GC/MS and supported by principal component analysis (PCA), which revealed distinct
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