AbstractThe headspace (HS) volatile compounds of the flowers of ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) and bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) were analysed by solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In the ridge gourd, 16 volatiles were positively identified and nine were tentatively identified, while in the bitter gourd 13 compounds were positively identified and six were tentatively identified. Typical compounds that are found in essential oils and fragrances such as terpenes, hydrocarbons and oxygenated terpenes were successfully identified. For the ridge gourd, the results showed that with more than 90% of the headspace, the most abundant volatile compound of the flower is trans‐β‐ocimene. For the bitter gourd flower, the four most abundant compounds were identified as linalool (5% of total headspace), 2‐aminobenzaldehyde (27% of total headspace), 1H‐indole (33% of total headspace) and methyl anthranilate (32% of total headspace), accounting for over 95% of the headspace volatiles of the flower. These results indicate that SPME coupled with GC–MS is a potential alternative for the effective extraction and analysis of odours of rare, exotic, delicate flowers. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.