Dear Wangkheirakpam,

The best thing would be to do a headspace sampling of the volatiles from (intact) plants followed by a (GC and) GC-MS analysis. This could be done either by static or dynamic sampling techniques. This in practice means that you collect the atmosphere that is rich in, preferably saturated with, the plant volatiles and inject it into a GC-MS. For this you need your GC-MS to be equipped with a headspace sampler and that the injection port, liner, etc are appropriate for that (large volume injections, valves...).

The other possibility is to use an SPME (solid phase microextraction) fiber for the collection of volatiles. You have to take care of the choice of the fiber polarity not to miss out on some of the volatiles. The analysis is done by exposing the completely desorbed fiber to the headspace of the plant in a closed vessel for a period of time (with or without heating if the vessel) and them placing the fiber in a specially designed injection liner for the desorption of the volatiles and injection into the GC-MS system.

Thus, it depends on what you have available in you institution.

In the end, if all of the above is not possible for you, you could do a solvent extraction with a mixture of pentane and diethyl ether (both highly volatile to ensure you loose as little as possible of your precious plant volatiles).

If you have any questions, or would like me to send you publications that deal with this subject, just ask.

I hope this helped somewhat.

All the best,

Niko

While agreeing with the suggestions of Dr. Niko, I suggest you to look into these threads on similar subject.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_anyone_working_on_new_techniques_of_distilling_aromatic_plants_to_produce_essential_oils

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_are_the_techniques_used_for_the_extraction_of_essential_oils_from_a_plant

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_is_the_most_accurate_method_for_the_quantification_of_plant_volatiles_using_SPDM?_tpcectx=profile_answers

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_a_suitable_method_to_extract_oil_from_plants?_tpcectx=profile_answers

@B.R. Rajeswara Rao  and Niko Radulović Thank you so much

@Niko Radulović please do send your publications

i tried simple distillation it seems to give good volatile oil yeild

thank you i meant for volatiles which escapes at even 15 degree

Here is another similar thread on essential oil extraction from aromatic plants

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_do_I_extract_essential_oil_from_fresh_leaves_in_a_short_time

It all depends what you want to extract volatile substances. There is no single golden mean for all compounds and various raw materials. That's the question we ask ourselves every time when you want to explore new material. The best way is the method of testing for raw materials, so use all available, as each of them will reveal you a different face of the raw material. Greetings.

Check this thread.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Did_anyone_analyse_the_essential_oil_components_present_in_the_vapors_escaping_from_Clevenger_hydro-distillation_condenser_vent

Hydro-steam distillation method

If your compounds are highly volatile, you can try cold extraction with solvents but the trouble is isolation of these compounds from the rest of the compounds extracted by the solvents. Head space analysis of course helps to identify these compounds.