Estimation of the main dill seeds odorant carvone by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was examined for its suitability for isolation of volatiles from seeds of dill in comparison with the traditional steam distillation procedure. Two main dill seeds volatiles, carvone and limonene, were taken into consideration. Two Supelco SPME fibers were used for the extraction: polyacrylic (PAc) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The time required to saturate the fibers was 3 min, while distillation took 3 h. Gas chromatography (GC) separation was reduced to 5 min by use of microcapillary column HP-5 cross-linked 5% Ph Me Siloxane. The standards of limonene and carvone were used to prepare calibration curves. PAc fiber responses were described by quadratic curves while PDMS responded linearly. Six varieties of dill were examined by distillation and SPME with both fibers. The good results were achieved for carvone by SPME-PDMS with significant regression between distillation and SPME. This compound can be measured in dill seeds samples within 10 min. The SPME-PDMS were also tested for its application to chiral resolution of carvone and limonene enantiomers in dill seeds oil. The enantiomeric separation was done with two chiral columns. The enantiomeric ratios measured by SPME were just the same as with distillation.