title: Headspace-solid-phase microextraction in the analysis of the volatile fraction of aromatic and medicinal plants.
abstract: Headspace (HS)-solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has assumed an ever increasing importance as a technique for HS sampling to study the composition of the HS of medicinal and aromatic plants. HS-SPME has mainly been applied for (a) studying the composition of the volatile fraction, including in addition to or as an alternative to other sampling techniques; (b) monitoring the biological phenomena involved with the volatile fraction of a plant; (c) discriminating between species, subspecies, varieties, cultivars, or chemotypes; and (d) quality control of plant samples. A review of 108 articles published during 2000-2005 is presented covering the use of HS-SPME in the field of aromatic and medicinal plants, selection of the most effective fiber and sampling conditions, comparison of HS-SPME and other volatile fraction sample preparation techniques, and the advantages and limits of HS-SPME when applied to medicinal and aromatic plants.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, Via Pietro Giuria 9 I-10125 - Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Belliardo
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bicchi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cordero
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liberto
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rubiolo
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sgorbini
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D014835:Volatilization