Improvement of Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil Characterization by GC×GC-TOFMS

Michał Brokl,Jean-François Focant,Marie-Laure Fauconnier,Céline Benini,Patrick Jardin,Georges Lognay

doi:10.3390/molecules18021783

Michał Brokl, Jean-François Focant + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules18021783

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Abstract

A single fraction of essential oil can often contain hundreds of compounds. Despite of the technical improvements and the enhanced selectivity currently offered by the state-of-the-art gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS) instruments, the complexity of essential oils is frequently underestimated. Comprehensive two-dimensional GC coupled to time-of-flight MS (GC×GC-TOFMS) was used to improve the chemical characterization of ylang-ylang essential oil fractions recently reported in a previous one-dimensional (1D) GC study. Based on both, the enhanced chromatographic separation and the mass spectral deconvolution, 161 individual compounds were identified and labeled as potentially characteristic analytes found in both low and high boiling fractions issued from distillation of mature ylang-ylang flowers. Compared to the most recent full GC-MS characterization, this represents 75 new compounds, essentially consisting of terpenes, terpenoid esters, and alcohols.

Highlights

Ylang-ylang essential oil, together with jasmine, rose and neroli, is one of the few essential oils extracted from flowers that are exploited at a large scale
As compared to one-dimensional gas chromatography (1DGC), the use of two separation mechanisms results in a significant increase of peak capacity, whereas modulation can provide an improvement in sensitivity [16]
Based on the complexity of the 1DGC chromatogram generated in our previous study [2], we investigated the use of GC×GC-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) for a more exhaustive analysis of selected ylang-ylang essential oil fractions with the aim of improving the differentiation approach

Summary

Introduction

Ylang-ylang essential oil, together with jasmine, rose and neroli, is one of the few essential oils extracted from flowers that are exploited at a large scale. The chemical composition of ylang-ylang essential oil fractions has been studied by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS), especially quadrupole analyzers, revealing its complexity [4,7] This permitted researchers to highlight the major components of the oil and use them for quality and/or origin control. As compared to one-dimensional gas chromatography (1DGC), the use of two separation mechanisms results in a significant increase of peak capacity, whereas modulation can provide an improvement in sensitivity [16] Coupling this technique to time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS), capable of acquiring up to 500 full-range spectra per second [17], offers the possibility of mass deconvolution—an additional tool to resolve coelutions in the mass spectral domain.

Results and Discussion

Plant Material and Essential Oil Distillation

Data Processing

Conclusions