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Abstract: A headspace solvent microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HSME–GC–MS) method was described for the analysis of volatile compounds from Curcuma wenyujin Y.H. Chen et C. Ling. A comparison was made between HSME–GC–MS, solid-phase microextraction (SPME)–GC–MS and steam distillation (SD)–GC–MS methods. The number of the identified compounds was 66 for HSME–GC–MS, 71 for SPME–GC–MS and 63 for SD–GC–MS, respectively. HSME–GC–MS was found to share most of the compounds in common with the other two methods. Compared with the other two methods, HSME–GC–MS has a lower cost, more choices of extraction solvents and requires a smaller amount of sample and can directly utilizes the ground powder of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) for the analysis. In conclusion, HSME–GC–MS method is a simple, inexpensive and effective method for the analysis of volatile compounds in TCMs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]