Comparison of solid-phase and single-drop microextractions for headspace analysis of herbal essential oils

Abstract

The analytical microextraction methods of gas chromatography coupled with flame ionisation detector (GC-FID) for determination of selected essential oils in herbs were proposed. Two microextraction methods for the isolation of essential oils from plants such as Lavandula spica L., Melissa officinalis L., Mentha piperita L. and Salvia officinalis L. were used. The methods of solid-phase and single-drop microextractions, were optimised and compared. The obtained LOD values for all studied essential oils were found to be within 2.5-20.5 μg for SDME and 57.0-139.8 μg for SPME method per 100 g of dried sample leaves. The appropriate LOQ values were then 8.4-68.4 μg for SDME and 189.8-466.1 μg for SPME of target analytes per 100 g of dried sample leaves. © Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009.