Can matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) be more simplified? Application of solventless MSPD sample preparation method for GC-MS and GC-FID analysis of plant essential oil components.

This paper proposes and shows the analytical capabilities of a new variant of matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD) with the solventless blending step in the chromatographic analysis of plant volatiles. The obtained results prove that the use of a solvent is redundant as the sorption ability of the octadecyl brush is sufficient for quantitative retention of volatiles from 9 plants differing in their essential oil composition. The extraction efficiency of the proposed simplified MSPD method is equivalent to the efficiency of the commonly applied variant of MSPD with the organic dispersing liquid and pressurized liquid extraction, which is a much more complex, technically advanced and highly efficient technique of plant extraction. The equivalency of these methods is confirmed by the variance analysis. The proposed solventless MSPD method is precise, accurate, and reproducible. The recovery of essential oil components estimated by the MSPD method exceeds 98%, which is satisfactory for analytical purposes.