A method for the solvent extraction of low-boiling-point plant volatiles.
A new method has been developed for the extraction of volatiles from plant materials and tested on seedling tissue and mature leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana, pine needles and commercial mixtures of plant volatiles. Volatiles were extracted with n-pentane and then subjected to quick distillation at a moderate temperature. Under these conditions, compounds such as pigments, waxes and non-volatile compounds remained undistilled, while short-chain volatile compounds were distilled into a receiving flask using a high-efficiency condenser. Removal of the n-pentane and concentration of the volatiles in the receiving flask was carried out using a Vigreux column condenser prior to GC-MS. The method is ideal for the rapid extraction of low-boiling-point volatiles from small amounts of plant material, such as is required when conducting metabolic profiling or defining biological properties of volatile components from large numbers of mutant lines.
Xu
Ning
N
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, Canada.
Gruber
Margaret
M
Westcott
Neil
N
Soroka
Julie
J
Parkin
Isobel
I
Hegedus
Dwayne
D
D000438:Alcohols / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000737:chemistry*; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010420:Pentanes / Q000737:chemistry; D041605:Pinus sylvestris / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D036226:Seedlings / Q000737:chemistry
D000438:Alcohols; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010420:Pentanes; C033353:pentane