Naturally occurring monoterpenoids in needles of Picea abies (L.) Karst

Summary An analysis was made of the effects of different sampling and extraction techniques on the amounts and pattern of monoterpenoids isolated from needles of Norway spruce. The following isolation and analysis procedure was finally adopted: liquid nitrogen-cooled needles were pulverized by a microdismembrator, extracted with pentane overnight at 2°–3°C and concentrated to a volume not less than 3 ml/g fresh weight on a Vigreux column. The crude extract was injected splitless (with solvent split) onto a cold programmed temperature vaporized (PTV) precolumn of a gas chromatograph and the vaporizable compounds heated to a capillary column. This method was tested for production of artefacts and quantitative extraction and applied to needles of eleven 80-year-old spruce trees.