Abstract: In this paper, steam distillation (SD) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) methods were separately coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to the chemical composition of volatile oil from Asarum sieboldii Miq. As a result,  24 compounds including methyleugenol, 3,5-dimethoxytoluene, safrole, pentadecane, kakuol, 3',4'-(methylenedioxy)propiophenone, eucarvone, borneol, 2',4'-dimethoxy-3'-methylpropiophenone, N-isobutyldodecatetraenamide and sesamin were identified. However, UAE revealed a 1.2－24-fold increase in partial components in comparison with SD. The contents of sesamin and 6-octadecenoic acid obtained by UAE were 24 and 21 times larger than that by steam distillation method, respectively. These studies suggested that UAE is superior to SD for both thermally unstable and non-volatile compounds in volatile oil from Asarum sieboldii Miq..

Key words: Asarum sieboldii Miq., volatile oil, steam distillation, ultrasound-assisted extraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry