Identification of the Key Aroma Compounds in Dried Roots of Rubia cordifolia

Abstract

The compositions of the essential oil from Rubiae Radix (roots of Rubia cordifolia, Rubiaceae) have been investigated by capillary GC and GC/MS. The important odor-active compounds were also detected in the oil using GC-Olfactometry (GC-O) and aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). As a result, 43 components, accounting for 91.5 % of the total oil, were detected. The main components in the essential oil were mollugin (19.6%), furomollugin (17.4%), eugenol (12.7%) and (E)-anethole (10.6%). AEDA and GC-O showed that geraniol, eugenol and geranyl acetate were the most aroma-compounds.