Rapid analysis of Origanum majorana L. fragrance using a nanofiber sheet, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, and chemometrics

Abstract

Headspace nanofiber sheet microextraction together with GC-MS and chemometrics resolution techniques were implemented to separate and identify the volatiles emitted by intact marjoram (Origanum majorana L.) and their relative concentrations. A novel polyaniline-nylon-6 nanofiber composite was applied for headspace microextraction. Characteristics such as high surface-to-volume ratio and π-π functional groups in polyaniline together with the NH and C=O functional groups in nylon-6 make the polyaniline-nylon-6 nanofiber composite a suitable candidate for the extraction of volatiles and semivolatiles. The extracted constituents were desorbed and injected into the GC-MS system under the optimum conditions. Chemometric resolution techniques were utilized to solve the baseline offset, asymmetric peaks, and overlapped peaks problems that arise from GC-MS analysis. By means of these techniques and resolving the overlapped peak clusters, the number of identified constituents was increased to 67 compounds. The major released constituents from the intact marjoram leaves are 4-terpineol, β-linalool, cis-sabinol, and trans-geraniol.