title: Headspace, solid-phase micro-extraction, gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of terpenoids in the latex of Euphorbia species.
abstract: The volatile and semi-volatile terpenoids in the latex of Euphorbia amygdaloides, E. exigua, E. helioscopia, and E. peplus were analyzed by headspace, solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME), coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The volatiles were extracted using a 100 microm polydimethylsiloxane SPME fiber under optimized extraction conditions. The compounds detected encompassed a range of chemical classes, but only terpenoids were evaluated. Only sesquiterpene hydrocarbons were detected in the tested samples of E. exigua, E. helioscopia, and E. peplus, with beta-caryophyllene being the major one, but were never recorded in latex samples of E. amygdaloides, in which only the diterpene hydrocarbon kaur-16-ene was detected. Alpha-Humulene was consistently found in samples of E. helioscopia, and E. peplus, but never in those of the other two species. These preliminary results show that the developed procedure is suitable for the analysis of small samples of Euphorbia latex and that, for each individual species, there is very little qualitative difference between samples, regardless of either place or date of collection.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Portsmouth, White Swan Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2DT, UK. asmita.sautreau@port.ac.uk
authors.forename: Asmita V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sumner
authors.forename: H Leslie
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Blunden
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Jun-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zan
mesh_terms: D028481:Euphorbia / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007840:Latex / Q000737:chemistry*; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction; D013729:Terpenes / Q000032:analysis*; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007840:Latex; D013729:Terpenes; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds