Abstract:

Purified essential oil of Cuminum cyminum L. was obtained using supercritical carbon dioxide followed by molecular distillation and was analyzed for volatile composition by GC-MS and double column identification. Totally 44 and 39 components were identified in essential oil of Cuminum cyminum L.using DB-5 and INNO-WAX columns, respectively, and 20 components were simultaneously identified using both columns. A quantification method for four major aromatic components including β-pinene, p-cymene, γ-terpinene and cuminal was established using dodecane as an internal standard substance. The above aromatic components all exhibited a good linear relationship between peak area and concentration, with determination coefficients (R2) of more than 0.9996. Purification by molecular distillation resulted in an obvious increase from 11.48% to 30.30% of the content of cuminal, which is responsible for the characteristic aroma of Cuminum cyminum L.

Key words: molecular distillation (MD), internal standard method, qualitative and quantitative analysis, aromatic components