ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses several practical approaches to floral scent analysis and their advantages and limitations. It presents a selection of collection methods that range from low-tech, inexpensive, quick sampling methods to high-tech methods that require a complicated laboratory setup and can automatically collect samples in short time intervals over several days. Besides dynamic headspace sampling, vacuum headspace trapping techniques have been frequently applied in the past for floral fragrance analysis. Floral volatiles are usually trapped and preconcentrated on adsorbent matrices prior to gas chromatography analysis. The chirality of floral scent compounds can be crucial for the olfactory response of pollinators and herbivores. Hence determining the enantiomeric composition of floral volatiles is critical in understanding plant-animal interactions. The analysis of plant volatiles, including those emitted from floral tissues, has continuously improved. The development of materials with high adsorbent capacities for volatile compounds has allowed efficient trapping of volatiles and volatile blends with different chemicophysical properties.
