Isolation of very volatile compounds from the leaves ofLedum palustre using the purge & trap technique

Summary A comparison of different isolation methods for volatile compounds from the leaves ofLedum palustre has been carried out. The aim of the investigation was not to identify all the isolated compounds, though some new compounds were found. Methods used were steam distillation, Soxhlet extraction with n-hexane and the purge & trap technique.The results obtained by the three methods of extraction were compared and it is was found that the very volatile compounds isolated by the purge & trap technique, could not be found by the more conventional methods. The very volatile compounds found by the purge & trap technique were mainly dienals.