Abstract
Essential oil components of Nelumbo nucifera flowers from cultivated and wild lotus samples were analyzed and compared using three different extraction techniques, i.e., headspace extraction (HE), steam distillation (SD) and solvent extraction (SE), coupled with GC-MS. Forty-two peaks in the GC-MS analysis were identified as essential oil components extracted by the three methods from N. nucifera flower. The major essential oil components extracted by SD method were found to be Z,Z-10,12-hexadecadienal and E-14-hexadecenal with relative contents of 16.3% and 16.7%, respectively, which is different from that of SE method, i.e., n-hexadecanoic acid and Z,Z-9,12-octadecadienoic acid accounting for 25.8% and 26.8%, respectively. HE method demonstrated a possibility to be used as an in situ and simplest method for extracting the essential oil components from raw materials. By adding a small amount of glycerinum onto the surface of the air-dried flower sample as a solvent trap in the HE method, the volatility of the essential oil components was found to increase by two times for the first time, which could be further utilized to improve the extraction efficiency and the recovery of the essential oil components from other materials for more applications. In addition, the comparison of essential oil components between cultivated and wild samples showed that they differed only in the chemical contents but not in chemical components. This will be a comprehensive report on the chemical information of the essential oil components of N. nucifera flower and provide guidance for its further exploration as high value-added products in the food and healthcare industries.
Highlights
Nelumbo nucifera, commonly known as lotus, is an aquatic perennial plant, which has been cultivated in most provinces of China, and even across many parts of the world [1]
To avoid the chemical change in the headspace extraction caused by the elevated temperature and oxygen in the headspace, a small amount of glycerinum was added to the sample powder to produce a solvent membrane on the surface of the powder
The essential oil components of N. nucifera flower have been analyzed and compared using three different extraction techniques coupled with GC-MS
Summary
Commonly known as lotus, is an aquatic perennial plant, which has been cultivated in most provinces of China, and even across many parts of the world [1] It has mainly been used as aquatic vegetable, and almost all parts of N. nucifera have been found to be very useful in either traditional herbal medicines or healthcare foods [2,3,4,5]. The essential oil components of two N. nucifera flower samples from different growing environments, i.e., wild-type and cultivated samples, were compared. This will provide basic chemical information for the further exploitation on the essential oil extracted from N. nucifera flower
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