The determination of the ratio of the enantiomeric isomers of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, and limonene in needles and the evaluation of a technique for measuring volatiles from solid samples

The objectives of this research were to determine the enantiomeric composition of volatile terpenes in loblolly pine needles and to identify the volatile compounds present in different loblolly pine tissue samples. Volatile organic compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry using two different procedures. The first experiments used solid phase microexiraction (SPME) as the sampling method by placing needles in a vial and exposing a SPME fiber to the headspace volatiles of the needles. The enantiomers of the volatiles were analyzed using a chiral phase GC column, and the enantiomeric distributions were determined. alpha-Pinene was determined to be the most abundant compound in the needles, with R (+)-alpha-pinene the most abundant enantiomer (60%). A second set of experiments was conducted using a sample preconcentration trap (SPT) to analyze terpene volatiles from different tree tissues. Monoterpenes were found in all samples of loblolly pine tissue with a-pinene being the most abundant.