Hydrodistillation–Headspace Solvent Microextraction: An Efficient Method for Analysis of the Essential Oil from the Seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

Hydrodistillation–headspace solvent microextraction (HD–HSME) has been used for isolation and preconcentration of the essential oil from the seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Mill. The effect on extraction efficiency of different conditions, for example sample mass, extraction time, microdrop volume, and choice of solvent, was studied and all were optimized. The results were compared with those from hydrodistillation, as reference method. Fourteen compounds were identified; the main components were trans-anethole (70.4%), fenchone (9.3%), and p-allylanisole (8.8%). The results were in good agreement with those obtained by hydrodistillation.