Jeol Ltd.
Jeol Ltd.
04/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/03/2024 17:50
Analysis of the aroma components of spearmint essential oil by GC-TOFMS and AI structure analysis [GC-TOFMS Application]
Introduction
Spearmint is a plant in the genus Mentha of the Family Lamiaceae. It has long been known as one of the herbs with a sweet and refreshing aroma. Fresh leaves are often used in cooking, herbal teas, and desserts, and it is also widely used as a flavor for toothpaste and chewing gum. The aroma of spearmint has aromatherapy effect, making it a recommended aroma when you want to energize and refresh a tired body and mind, or when you want to clear your head.
In this MSTips, we introduce the results of analysis of the aroma components of spearmint essential oil by gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS). Since essential oils are natural materials extracted from flowers, leaves, and seeds of plants, they are expected to contain substances not registered in the NIST database. Therefore, we used JMS-T2000GC and msFineAnalysis AI, which are capable of AI structural analysis, for the analysis.
Experiment
Commercially available spearmint essential oil was used, diluted by 1/2 with a hexane solution. JMS-T2000 GC AccuTOF™ GC-Alpha (JEOL) was used for GC-MS measurements (Figure 1). The GC-TOFMS measurements were performed using both EI and field ionization (FI) modes with the EI/FI/FD combination ion source. The qualitative data processing was performed with msFineAnalysis AI (JEOL). Measurement conditions are shown in Table 1.
Figure 1 JMS-T2000GC AccuTOF™ GC-Alpha
Table 1 Measurement conditions
| GC conditions | |
| Gas Chromatograph | 8890 GC (Agilent Technologies) |
| Column |
HP-1MS (Agilent Technologies) 30 m x 0.32 mm, 0.25 μm |
| Inlet | 250°C, Split 50:1 |
| Oven temperature | 40°C (1 min) - 15°C/min - 250°C (1 min) |
| Carrier flow | He, 1.5 mL/min |
| MS conditions | |
| Spectrometer | JMS-T2000GC (JEOL Ltd.) |
| Ion source | EI/FI combination |
| Ionization | EI (70 eV, 250°C), FI |
| Mass range | m/z 33-800 |
| Analysis software | msFineAnalysis AI |
Results
Figure 2 shows the TIC chromatogram of spearmint essential oil. Thirty-seven components were detected as having a height threshold of 0.015% or higher. Carvone, which has a sweet and refreshing scent, was detected as the main component, followed by Limonene, which has a sweet-sour and refreshing scent.
Figure 2 TIC chromatograms of spearmint essential oil
Table 2 shows the results of the integrated analysis of the 37 aroma compounds detected in spearmint essential oil. Six of the 37 identified components were not registered in the NIST database, it was able to obtain the compound name and structural formula by AI structural analysis. Figure 3 shows an enlarged TICC around limonene, the second most strongly identified compound. The deconvolution peak detection identified and detected even the low-intensity component as a co-eluting component. The co-eluting component ID010 was also an unknown substance not registered in the NIST library database, but a candidate structural formula could be calculated by the AI structural analysis function as shown below.
Table 2 List of integrated analysis results of spearmint essential oil components
Figure 3 TIC chromatograms (left), mass spectrum (center),
AI structural analysis results summary (right) of spearmint essential oil components
Conclusion
GC-TOFMS using JMS-T20000GC and msFineAnalysis AI were used to analyze aroma components in spearmint essential oil. Deconvolution peak detection by msFineAnalysis AI enabled the detection of co-eluted components without missing them. Although some components were not registered in NIST database, it was able to obtain the compound name and structural formula by AI structural analysis. So, it was confirmed that this device and software are effective for analyzing aroma components in naturally derived samples.
Solutions by field
Related products
JMS-T2000GC AccuTOF™ GC-Alpha High Performance Gas Chromatograph - Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer
msFineAnalysis AI Unknown Compounds Structure Analysis Software