Volatilome analysis of Microbiota decussata Kom.

The volatilome of Microbiota decussata Kom. (Cupressaceae) has remained largely unexplored since the first essential-oil analysis reported more than two decades ago. In this study, we provide a comprehensive chemical profile of the diethyl ether extract obtained from fresh plant material using GC-MS analysis supported by dryflash fractionation. A total of 69 compounds were identified, accounting for 86% of the extract. Sesquiterpenoids dominated the chemical composition (71.0%), with thujopsan-2?-ol representing the major constituent (41.5%). The application of dryflash chromatography enabled the separation of structurally related compounds into discrete fractions, significantly improving spectral deconvolution and compound identification. Notably, microbiotol (5.1%) and two microbiotenes-absent from previously published essential oil data-were detected in the extract. Comparison with the literature suggests that hydrodistillation leads to dehydration of thujopsan-2?-ol, explaining its absence in the essential oil reported earlier.