Rapid detection of volatile organic compounds emitted from plants by multicapillary column-ion mobility spectrometry

This study presents a novel rapid analytical method for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from blueberry leaves using the Tenax adsorbent followed by separation using a multicapillary column (MCC) and Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) detection. The emitted VOCs including caryophyllene, benzene acetonitrile, linalool, ocimene, and methyl salicylate initiated by different stress factors including mechanical damage (punching), herbivore attack (aphids) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) spraying were detected and quantified. Limits of Detection (LODs) for the VOCs were determined in the range of 8 to 33 ng. This new cost-efficient method provided a simple and direct detection of the emitted VOCs from plants without any sample pretreatment.