Abstract
Due to the lack of ecofriendly/green reversed-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (RP-HPTLC) methods for trans-anethole (TAL) and its simplicity over routine analytical techniques, there was a necessity to establish a suitable HPTLC methodology for the quantitative analysis of TAL. Therefore, the first objective of this research was to develop an accurate, rapid and green RP-HPTLC densitometry methodology for the quantitative analysis of TAL in essential oil, traditional and ultrasound-assisted extracts of Foeniculum vulgare Mill and commercial formulations. The second objective was to compare the traditional method of extraction of TAL with its ultrasound-assisted method of extraction. The chromatogram of TAL from essential oil and traditional and ultrasound-assisted extracts of fennel and commercial formulations was verified by recoding its single spectra at Rf = 0.31 ± 0.01 in comparison to standard TAL. The proposed analytical methodology has been found to be superior in terms of linearity, accuracy and precision compared to most of the reported analytical methods for TAL analysis. The amount of TAL in the essential oil of fennel was recorded as 8.82 mg per g of oil. The content of TAL in traditional extracts of fennel, formulation 1 (dietary supplement 1) and formulation 2 (dietary supplement 2), was recorded as 6.44, 4.88 and 4.48 mg per g, respectively. The amount of TAL in ultrasound-assisted extracts of fennel, formulation 1 and formulation 2, was recorded as 8.34, 6.46 and 5.81 mg per g, respectively. The ultrasound method of extraction of TAL was found to be better than the traditional method of extraction. The results of validation studies and phytochemical analysis showed that the proposed methodology could be efficiently utilized for the quantification of TAL in the wide range of products having TAL as a component.
Highlights
IntroductionFennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill; family: Apicaceae) is a biennial or perennial medicinal herb [1].The main components of fennel seeds are essential oils which are important flavoring agents [1,2,3].Various therapeutic activities in essential oils of fennel, such as “antioxidant [4,5,6,7], anti-inflammatory [7], analgesic [7], hepatoprotective [8], diuretic [2], antimicrobial [9], antibacterial [2,10,11], antifungal [12], antidiabetic [13], neuroprotective [14] and anti-tumor activities [15],” have been reported in the Separations 2020, 7, 51; doi:10.3390/separations7040051 www.mdpi.com/journal/separationsSeparations 2020, 7, 51 literature
Each statistical evaluation was conducted at a 5% level of significance
1 and the ultrasound technique for the extraction of in fennel seeds and commercial formulations is formulations 2, compared with respective traditional extracts (p < 0.05). Based on such observations, proposed as better than the traditional method of extraction. These results indicate that the the ultrasound technique for the extraction of TAL in fennel seeds and commercial formulations is proposedas technique could be effectively utilized in the quantitative analysis of TAL
Summary
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill; family: Apicaceae) is a biennial or perennial medicinal herb [1].The main components of fennel seeds are essential oils which are important flavoring agents [1,2,3].Various therapeutic activities in essential oils of fennel, such as “antioxidant [4,5,6,7], anti-inflammatory [7], analgesic [7], hepatoprotective [8], diuretic [2], antimicrobial [9], antibacterial [2,10,11], antifungal [12], antidiabetic [13], neuroprotective [14] and anti-tumor activities [15],” have been reported in the Separations 2020, 7, 51; doi:10.3390/separations7040051 www.mdpi.com/journal/separationsSeparations 2020, 7, 51 literature. The main components of fennel seeds are essential oils which are important flavoring agents [1,2,3]. Several analytical methods have been reported for the identification of the different chemical constituents of the essential oils of fennel [1,2,3,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. Some chemical constituents like trans-anethole (TAL), fenchone, α-pinene, β-pinene and camphene have been reported as the biomarker compounds of the essential oils of fennel [1,2,3,20,21,22]. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) studies have revealed that TAL is the most abundant component of fennel essential oils [3]. TAL is a monoterpene which is isolated from the essentials oils of various plants such as fennel, tarragon and basil [23]
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