Emissions of volatile organic compounds from Quercus ilex L. measured by Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry under different environmental conditions

Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions of the Mediterranean helm oak (Quercus ilex L.) were investigated using a fast Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) instrument for analysis. This technique is able to measure compounds with a proton affinity higher than water with a high time resolution of 1 s per compound. Hence nearly all VOCs can be detected on-line. We could clearly identify the emission of methanol, acetaldehyde, ethanol, acetone, acetic acid, isoprene, monoterpenes, toluene, and C-10-benzenes. Some other species could be tentatively denominated. Among these are the masses 67 (cyclo pentadiene), mass 71 (tentatively attributed to methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and metacrolein (MACR)), 73 (attributed to methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)), 85 (C6H12 or hexanol), and 95 (vinylfuran or phenol). The emissions of all these compounds (identified as well as nonidentified) together represent 99% of all masses detected and account for a carbon loss of 0.7-2.9% of the net photosynthesis. Of special interest was a change in the emission behavior under changing environmental conditions such as flooding or fast light/dark changes. Flooding of the root system caused an increase of several VOCs between 60 and 2000%, dominated by the emission of ethanol and acetaldehyde, which can be explained by the well described production of ethanol under anoxic conditions of the root system and the recently described subsequent transport and partial oxidation to acetaldehyde within the green leaves. However, ethanol emissions were dominant. Additionally, bursts of acetaldehyde with lower ethanol emission were also found under fast light/dark changes. These bursts are not understood.