2. ENVIRONMENTAL ChEMISTRy & TEChNOLOGy 2.1. Lectures

Chem. Listy, 102, s265–s1311 (2008) Environmental Chemistry & Technology
is presented in bold; where no compliance existed, “n.i.” is
stated, which stands for “not identified”. Concerning results,
it is evident that not all the content substances were present
in all extracts. Mostly, they were detected in the ethanolic
extract and in the first petroleum extract and their presence in
these two extracts was influenced by the chemical nature of
these substances.
Table I
Identification of volatile compounds in sweet pepper
extracts
RF Ethanol RF Petroleum RF Petroleum Identified
ether I ether II compound
– 0.17 – pinene
0.23 0.22 – cymene
0.28 – – terpinene
0.38 0.41 0.39 n.i.
0.52 0.65 0.67 n.i.
0.69 0.68 – n.i.
0.93 – – n.i.
0.96 – – n.i.
0.99 – – n.i.
As the second method of essential oils components
analysis, SPME in connection with GC/MS was used. The
method was optimalized and measurements were performed
under conditions mentioned above. Also by this method, not
the concentration of substances, but their identification was
the matter of concern. In contrast to TLC, the isolation/preconcentration
of target compounds was performed via headspace
method. To confirm the presence of a given substance
nIST spectral library search was used. The Fig. 1. shows
chromatogram of sweet pepper spice. In Table II is a summary
of substances identified via spectral library search in
this spice.
Fig. 1. Chromatogram of sweet pepper
By comparison of Tables I and II it is obvious, that more
single volatile substances and their isomers can be recognised
s438
Table II
Retention times and identification of compounds present in
sweet pepper
Peak number Retention Time Identification
1. 7.97 α-pinene
2. 9.24 β-pinene
3. 9.71 β-myrcene
4. 10.09 α-felandrene
5. 10.26 3-karene
6. 10.46 α-terpinene
7. 10.71 p-cymene
8. 10.84 limonene
9. 11.76 γ-terpinene
10. 12.66 4-karene
by means of SPME in connection with GC/MS. Similar comparison
could be made at all spices used.
Conclusion
Analytical separation-based methods were used for the
identification of content substances present in essential oils of
seven spice species. Following results were obtained:
The isolation of essential oils content substances can be
performed by the means of either appropriate solvent
extraction, or passive sampling via SPME.
Screening chromatography method on the thin layer
(TLC) is appropriate for the quick identification of content
substances in essential oils. This method is also
recommended by the Pharmaceutical Codex6 •
•
.
• Decisive GC/MS method enabled the identification of
more content substances, including some isomers, at all
spice and herbal tea samples analysed.
This work was supported by the Ministry of Education
of the Czech Republic under research project MSM 621
712422.
REFEREnCES
1. Marsili, R.: Techniques for Analyzing Food Aroma. CRC
1996.
2. Podlech, D.: Kapesní atlas léčivé rostliny, Slovart
2007.
3. Wager, H., Bladt, S., Zgainski, E. M.: Plant drug analysis.
Springer – Verlag 1984.
4. Pawliszyn, J.: Solid Phase Microextraction: Theory and
Practice. Wiley-VCH 1997.
5. Sides, S., Robards, K., Helliwell, S.: Trend.Anal.Chem.,
19, 322 (2000).
6. Český farmaceutický kodex. X-EGEM 1993.