Abstract
Thymol and carvacrol—the components of herbal spices—are known for their broad biological activity as antimicrobials and antioxidants. For this reason, it is important to develop new methods for their determination in plant material. A simple, rapid, and sensitive method for determination of total content of these analytes in herbal spices using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) has been developed. The basis of the research is the oxidation process of isopropylmethylphenols on a platinum microelectrode in glacial acetic acid containing acetonitrile (20%, v/v) and 0.1 mol L−1 sodium perchlorate as the supporting electrolyte. Linear voltammetric responses for thymol and carvacrol were obtained in a wide concentration range from 0.39–1105 and 0.47–640 µg mL−1, with a low detection limit of 0.04 and 0.05 µg mL−1, respectively. The analysis was performed using the multiple standard addition method. The results of the voltammetric determination are in good agreement with the data of the standard chromatographic method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first presentation of an electrochemical procedure to determine these compounds in these environmental and electrode materials.
Highlights
The attractiveness of food is related to its basic organoleptic characteristics, such as taste and smell
A rich source of thymol is the essential oil of Thymus vulgaris (48.3–78.4%, w/w), while carvacrol is dominant in the essential oil of Origanum vulgare and Satureja L. (61.6–87.6% and 43.6–70.7%, w/w, respectively) [4,5,6,7]
The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique was mainly used for THY and CAR determination, because it is characterized by the high sensitivity and good separation of the recorded peaks
Summary
The attractiveness of food is related to its basic organoleptic characteristics, such as taste and smell. In order to strengthen or improve them, additives are used, which are often green plants in the form of dried plants, i.e., spices or essential oils. They improve the taste and the aroma and color of dishes. The basic ingredients that give plants their characteristic taste and aroma are terpenes They are most often extracted or distilled from plant material to give essential oils [2,3]. The best known representatives of this class of compounds are isopropylmethylphenols: thymol (THY, 5-methyl-5-(propan-2-yl)phenol) and carvacrol (CAR, 2-methyl-5-(propan-2-yl)phenol). The DPV technique was mainly used for THY and CAR determination, because it is characterized by the high sensitivity and good separation of the recorded peaks
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