A COMPARATIVE LC/MS ANALYSIS OF JORDANIAN BAY LEAF, BRANCHES, AND ROOTS (LAURUS NOBILIS L.)

Abstract

Bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) is an agriculturally important tree used in the food, drugs, and the cosmetics industry. Many of the health beneficial properties of bay laurel are due to the volatile terpene metabolites that they contain, including various norisoprenoids. In this study, chemical composition of essential oils of all parts of Laurus Nobilis L. traded as spice and medicinal items were analyzed by a novel method of analysis called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based approaches are widely used for the identification and quantitation. A total of 17 compounds accounting between 0.30 and 96% of the total essential oil were identified in leaves, branches, and roots of the freshly collected bay-laurel planted in the northern area of Jordan. Qualitative and quantitative differences in the indicators were found among essential oils obtained from bay leaves, branches, and roots. The oxygenated compounds were the principal fraction in all analyzed essential oils. The oxygenated of monoterpenes and Isoquercitrin was found to be equal to 96.51% in leaves, 93.5% in branches, and 88% in roots. Spiraeoside was found to be equal to 65% in leaves, 63% in roots, and 39% in branches. The highest content of Meta-Vitexin (22 %) was found in branches, whereas the highest content of Catechin (15 %) was found in roots. The fruit contains up to 30% fatty oils and about 1% essential oils (terpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, and ketones). It was found that leaves had the most percentage of essential oils, which made uses of leaves as medical and a spice worldwide, with aromatic, stimulant and narcotic properties, rather than branches or roots.