Design of the extraction process for characterization of volatile profile of stem wood by solid-phase microextraction

Abstract

A method for isolation of volatile compounds from samples of stem wood by solid-phase microextraction was developed. The extraction method was optimized using a central composite design approach. Extraction temperature and extraction time were optimized in the ranges of 40°C to 120°C and 10 to 90 minutes, respectively. Final extraction method was combined with GC-MS for separation and identification of volatile components of wood samples of seven tree species, commonly occurring in Central Europe. All of them were deciduous (acacia, alder, beech, elm, larch, maple, and oak). In total 185 organic compounds were identified in volatile profiles of all the samples by the developed method. To facilitate the evaluation of the suitability of the proposed method for extraction of different compound types, all identified compounds were categorized into 16 groups. Percentage of compound groups in volatile profiles of individual wood samples shows that the developed method is suitable for evaluation of a wide range of volatile components from stem wood.