Abstract
The volatile components from the thalloid liverwort, Marchantia paleacea subsp. diptera were investigated by HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis. The monocyclic monoterpene aldehyde, perillaldehyde was identified for the first time as the major component and its content was about 50% of the volatiles, along with β-pinene, limonene, β-caryophyllene, α-selinene and β-selinene as minor volatiles. Using MD (Multi-dimensional) GC-MS analysis equipped with a chiral column as the second column, the chirality was determined of both perillaldehyde and limonene, which was considered as the precursor of perillaldehyde,. Both compounds were (S)-(-)-enantiomers (over 99.0 %) and (R)-enantiomers (less than 0.5 %). This is the first report of the existence of perillaldehyde in liverworts.