Analysis of volatile compounds in phytomedicines using thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectroscopy

Volatile essential oils (EOs) from medicinal plants play an important role in the treatment of various diseases. EOs have been shown to exhibit anti-bacterial, antiviral, antimycotic, antitoxigenic, antiparasitic, and insecticidal properties [1]. Several commercial phytomedicines such as Olbas oil (www.olbas.co.uk) [2], Tiger balm (www.tigerbalm.com) and Mentholtum contain EOs from medicinal plants such as peppermint. Thermal desorption (TD) gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) is a very useful technique for the analysis of volatile compounds without using tedious pre-treatment with organic solvents. Here we have analysed and compared the composition of volatile compounds of Olbas oil, Tiger Balm, and Mentholtum using TD GC-MS. Volatiles from each product have been identified and quantified. Menthol and eucalyptol have been found to be present in all the products (Figure). The easy and sensitive TD GC-MS method is useful for the quality control of phytomedicines containing volatile compounds.

Fig. 1: TD GC-MS chromatograms

References:

[1] Solozano-Santos F, Miranda-Novales MG. Curr Opin Biotech. 2012, 23, 136 – 141.

[2] Hamoud R, Sporer F, Reichling J, Wink M. Phytomedicine. 2012, 19, 969 – 976.