Abstract:

Essential oil in salted flowers of wild Chinese chive was extracted using simultaneous distillation and solvent extraction method, with the oil yield at 0.29%. The oil was then analyzed using GC-MS, and totally 37 components were identified according to their retention indices, covering 95.75% of the total components. Main components with their relative contents were listed as follows: dimethyl trisulfide (28.18%), dimethyl disulfide(18.13%), methyl 1-propenyl disulfide (14.24%), allyl methyl trisulfide (4.89%), allyl methyl disulfide (3.19%), methyl methylthiomethyl disulfide (3.10%), 4-vinylguaiacol (2.93%), diallyl disulphide (2.71%), dimethyl tetrasulfide (2.67%), 3-hydroxy-2-butanone(2.42%), 2-ethenyl-2-butenal (1.54%), 2,5- dimethyl-1,3,4-trithiolane(1.45%), benzyl alcohol (1.31%) and methylsulfinyl methylthio methane (1.28%). Totally 11 sulfides and multi-sulfides were found in the oil with their relative content at 79.99%, and were believed to be the characteristic aroma components of the salted flowers of wild Chinese chive.

Key words: wild Chinese chive, essential oil, simultaneous distillation and solvent extraction, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, retention indices