Headspace analyses of fresh leaves and stems of Angelica gigas Nakai, a Korean medicinal herb

The headspace volatiles from fresh leaves and stems of Angelica gigas Nakai were collected by solid-phase microextraction method and investigated by capillary GC, GC-MS and GC-O. Sixty volatile flavour constituents, which make up 84.2% of the total volatile content of the headspace, were detected in the leaves of A. gigas and beta-phellandrene (51.9%) was the most abundant component. Seventy-four volatile constituents were identified in the stem headspace of this aromatic plant and the main volatile components were beta-phellandrene (12%), dodecanoic acid (10.3%) and isobutylidene phthalide (8.5%). Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.