Hydrodistillation–Solvent Microextraction and GC–MS Identification of Volatile Components of Artemisia aucheri

A new, simple hydrodistillation–solvent microextraction (HD–SME) technique has been used for analysis of the volatile components of the aerial parts of Artemisia aucheri. The components were collected in a single microdrop, and this was injected directly for gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric (GC–MS) analysis. The effects on extraction efficiency of extraction solvent, sample mass, microdrop volume, and extraction time were optimized by use of a simplex method. The identities of the components of HD–SME extracts were confirmed according to their retention indexes and mass spectra with those of standards. Forty components were extracted and identified by use of the method; 1,8-cineol (22.8%), chrysanthenone (18.16%), α-pinene (8.33%), and mesitylene (7.41%) were the major constituents. The results obtained from the microextraction method were compared with those obtained by conventional hydrodistillation.