A - Papers appearing in refereed journals
Thomas, G., Caulfield, J. C., Nikolaeva-Reynolds, L.R., Birkett, M. A. and Vuts, J. 2024. Solvent extraction of PDMS tubing as a new method for the capture of volatile organic compounds from headspace. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 50, pp. 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-024-01469-y
Authors | Thomas, G., Caulfield, J. C., Nikolaeva-Reynolds, L.R., Birkett, M. A. and Vuts, J. |
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Abstract | Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) tubing is increasingly being used to collect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from static biological headspace. However, analysis of VOCs collected using PDMS tubing often deploys thermal desorption, where samples are considered as ‘one-offs’ and cannot be used in multiple experiments. In this study, we developed a static headspace VOC collection method using PDMS tubing which is solvent-based, meaning that VOC extracts can be used multiple times and can be linked to biological activity. Using a synthetic blend containing a range of known semiochemicals (allyl isothiocyanate, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, 1-octen-3-one, nonanal, (E)-anethol, (S)-bornyl acetate, (E)-caryophyllene and pentadecane) with differing chemical and physicochemical properties, VOCs were collected in static headspace by exposure to PDMS tubing with differing doses, sampling times and lengths. In a second experiment, VOCs from oranges were collected using PDMS sampling of static headspace versus dynamic headspace collection. VOCs were eluted with diethyl ether and analysed using gas chromatography – flame ionization detector analysis and coupled GC – mass spectrometry analysis. GC-FID analysis of collected samples showed that longer PDMS tubes captured significantly greater quantities of compounds than shorter tubes, and that sampling duration significantly altered the recovery of all tested compounds. Moreover, greater quantities of compounds were recovered from closed compared to open systems. Finally, analysis of orange headspace VOCs showed only a few qualitative differences in VOCs recovered compared to dynamic headspace collections, although quantities sampled using PDMS tubing were lower. In summary, extraction of PDMS tubing with diethyl ether solvent captures VOCs from the headspace of synthetic blends and biological samples, and the resulting extracts can be used for multiple experiments linking VOC content to biological activity. |
Keywords | Headspace sampling; PDMS; Semiochemical; Volatile; Solvent extract; Silicon; Polydimethylsiloxane |
Year of Publication | 2024 |
Journal | Journal of Chemical Ecology |
Journal citation | 50, pp. 85-99 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-024-01469-y |
Web address (URL) | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-024-01469-y |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Funder | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council |
Funder project or code | Growing Health [ISP] |
BBSRC Strategic Programme in Smart Crop Protection | |
Growing Health (WP1) - bio-inspired solutions for healthier agroecosystems: Understanding biointeractions | |
Publisher's version | |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 22 Jan 2024 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 13 Jan 2024 |
Publisher | Springer |
ISSN | 0098-0331 |
Permalink - https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/item/98y6q/solvent-extraction-of-pdms-tubing-as-a-new-method-for-the-capture-of-volatile-organic-compounds-from-headspace