Planta Med 2012; 78 - P_56
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1307564

Analytical Investigation of Roman and German Chamomile Essential Oils

M Wang 1, B Avula 1, YH Wang 1, J Zhao 1, C Avonto 1, N Tabanca 1, JF Parcher 1, TJ Smillie 1, IA Khan 1, 2
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • 2Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, MS 38677, US

Chamomile is one of the most widely used and well-documented medicinal plants in the world. Today it is a common ingredient in herbal teas because of its calming, carminative and spasmolytic properties. It is also a popular ingredient in topical health and beauty products because of its soothing and anti-inflammatory effects on skin. In the U.S., chamomile is listed as generally recognized as safe, although allergic reactions are documented.

Two species of chamomile are generally used in traditional herbalism, viz., Matricaria chamomilla (German chamomile) and Chamaemelum nobile (Roman chamomile). They are both members of compositae family, and have similar physical appearance, chemical properties, and general applications. The research discussed herein was designed to develop a GC/MS method to distinguish German chamomile from Roman chamomile, and to identify and characterize the major compounds present in chamomile essential oils. More than 70 compounds were identified by comparing the retention time with the standard compounds, as well as mass spectrometry and NIST library searches. The percentage composition of both Roman and German essential oils were calculated from peak areas using a normalization method without correction factors. A series of commercial oils were also analyzed for quality control purpose. The proposed GC/MS method is useful for chemical fingerprint analysis and quality control of chamomile essential oils.

Fig.1. GC/MS Fingerprint Chromatograms of German and Roman Chamomile Essential Oils

Acknowledgements : This research is supported in part by Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements funded by the Food and Drug Administration grant No. 1U01FD004246–01; the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58–6408–2-0009, and the Global Research Network for Medicinal Plants (GRNMP), King Saud University. References: [1] Raala A, et al. (2011) Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences 60(1): 55–63.