Aroma Characteristics of Lavender Extract and Essential Oil from Lavandula angustifolia Mill.

Abstract

Lavender and its products have excellent flavor properties. However, most studies focus on the aroma profiles of lavender essential oil (LEO). The volatiles in lavender extracts (LEs), either in volatile compositions or their odor characteristics, have rarely been reported. In this study, the odor characteristics of LEs and LEO were comprehensively investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), coupled with sensory evaluation and principal chemical analysis (PCA). In addition, the extraction conditions of lavender extracts from inflorescences of Lavandula angustifolia Mill. were optimized. Under the optimal conditions of extraction, twice with 95% edible ethanol as the solvent, the LEs tended to contain the higher intensity of characteristic floral, herbal and clove-like odors as well as higher scores of overall assessment and higher amounts of linalool, linalool oxides I and II, linalyl acetate, lavandulyl acetate and total volatiles than LEO. PCA analysis showed that there were significant differences on the odor characteristics between LEO and LEs. The LEO, which was produced by steam distillation with a yield of 2.21%, had the lower intensity of floral, clove-like, medicine-like, pine-like and hay notes, a lower score of overall assessment and lower levels of linalool oxides I and II, linalyl acetate, lavandulyl acetate and total volatiles compared with LEs, whereas the relative contents of linalool and camphor in LEO were significantly higher than that in LEs. Furthermore, the earthy, green and watery odors were only found in LEO. Concerning the odor characteristics and volatile compositions, the LEs had better odor properties than LEO. These results provided a theoretical basis for the industrial preparation of lavender-related products.

Molecular Distillation of Lavender Supercritical Extracts: Physicochemical and Antimicrobial Characterization of Feedstocks and Assessment of Distillates Enriched with Oxygenated Fragrance Components

“…The highest percentages of linalool; linalool acetate and lavandulol; lavandulol acetate and terpinen-4-ol were confirmed in the cases of L-Pl-E (17.02; 25.68; 1.40, 3.96 and 6.02%, respectively) ( Table 1 ). Lavandulol and its acetate are of a great interest in the cosmetic and perfumery industries, as it gives the oil a rosaceous, sharp floral aroma [ 36 , 37 ]; thus, their higher levels in natural oil can strongly increase its price. Together with linalool, linalyl acetate, terpinen-4-ol, and α-terpineol—the compounds were recently selected to study the influence of long-term storage on essential oil content and in the quality of two Czech Lavandula angustifolia Mill.…”

“…These compounds showed the widest spectrums of activity among the components included in the present study, also identified elsewhere in L. angustifolia Mill. [ 37 ]. All included reference substances had bactericidal (MBC/MIC = 1–4) and fungicidal effects (MFC/MIC = 1–4).…”

Aromatic Profiling and Bioactive Potential of Lavendula angustifolia: A Review

“…It's also called as English lavender and it finds its place in all the restaurants and kitchens where it is used as a flavoring agent and for seasoning purposes and cosmetic industry. Wang et al [17] [19] examined the essential oils of lavender to provide protection against neural disorder like Alzheimer disease and dementia, it shows improved cognitive performance against epilepsy and convulsions in animals and human subjects and they are cheap, easy to obtain and safe to use with good efficiency. Oran et al [20] inferred the methanolic extracts of Lavendula angustifolia Mill.…”

Exploring Herbal Medicine Use during Palliative Cancer Care: The Integrative Physician as a Facilitator of Pharmacist–Patient–Oncologist Communication

“…Methods used to ensure batch-to-batch consistency of the herbal compound/s being investigated are mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Spectrometry has been used to evaluate individual herbs [ 27 , 28 ], and HPLC has been used for herbal formulas containing a number of compounds, thereby providing reliable and reproducible findings regarding their safety and efficacy in the oncology setting (e.g., the herbal formulas PHY906 and LCS101 [ 29 , 30 ]).…”