On the Genuineness of Citrus Essential Oils. Part XXXV. Detection of Added Reconstituted Mandarin Oil in Genuine Cold-Pressed Mandarin Essential Oil by High Resolution Gas Chromatography with Chiral Capillary Columns

Abstract

ABSTRACT A rapid method to detect the addition of reconstituted mandarin oils to natural mandarin essential oils is suggested. The method is based on the ratio of the two enantiomers of limonene determined by GC using an on-line coupling of non-chiral and chiral capillary columns. The ratio of (−)-limonene and (+)-limonene in the genuine mandarin oils was 2.2 to 97.8, while in reconstituted oils the same ratio was 13.4 to 86.6. Addition of reconstituted oils increases the ratio of (--) to (+)-limonene in genuine oils enabling the detection of additions of even 5% of reconstituted oils to genuine mandarin oils.