Characterization and Comparison of Tea Tree and Lavender Oils by Using Comprehensive Gas Chromatography

Abstract

The essential oils from French lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) were separated by the two‐dimensional GC technique of comprehensive gas chromatography. A coupled column combination of non‐polar (5% phenyl equivalent) and polyethylene glycol phase columns was used to provide the desired resolution performance. By using a range of known standards, some of the peaks in lavender oil can be assigned. Some of these also occur in tea tree oil; however, from our knowledge of the major constituents in this oil and their relative retention behaviour, most of the major peaks may be tentatively assigned within the 2‐dimensional separation space. There appear to be elution patterns within the 2‐D space which should be useful in correlating retention with chemical and structural properties of the components, although this will require further evaluation. A range of coeluting peaks, which may not be so readily separated by using a single column capillary GC analysis, are resolved in the experiment described.

Detecting traces of methyl eugenol in essential oils: tea tree oil, a case study

“…[22] The constituents of tea tree oil have been determined by numerous investigators. [17][18][19][20][21] This investigation quantifies the traces of methyl eugenol previously reported in tea tree oil [17,18,21] and confirms that these concentrations are far too low to be of concern for essential oil safety.…”

“…Hence reliable methods for the determination of trace quantities of allyl alkoxybenzenes in essential oils and formulated products are essential. A current, relevant example is the essential oil of tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia , terpinen‐4‐ol type, a popular commercial oil about which questions of safety are being asked . The constituents of tea tree oil have been determined by numerous investigators .…”

“…A current, relevant example is the essential oil of tea tree, Melaleuca alternifolia , terpinen‐4‐ol type, a popular commercial oil about which questions of safety are being asked . The constituents of tea tree oil have been determined by numerous investigators . This investigation quantifies the traces of methyl eugenol previously reported in tea tree oil and confirms that these concentrations are far too low to be of concern for essential oil safety.…”

Positional and geometric isomer separation of FAME by comprehensive 2‐D GC

“…Scheme 1 is a diagram of the GC × GC arrangement incorporating a longitudinally modulated cryogenic system (LMCS, Everest model; Chromatography Concepts, Doncaster, Australia) (9). A variety of applications of the technique have been reported (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). A cryotrap is mounted inside the oven around one of the columns (normally D2) near the union connecting D1 and D2.…”

Quantitation of suspected allergens in fragrances (Part I): evaluation of comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography for quality control

“…[6][7][8] Dimandja and co-workers 9 from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrated the potential of GC×GC for the analysis of flavour and fragrance volatiles in 2000, and publications from other groups describing the use of GC×GC for essential oil analysis appeared shortly afterwards. 10,11 GC×GC has been shown to have excellent retention time reproducibility, 12 very high peak capacity, 13 and is claimed to provide sensitivity enhancement due to zone compression, 14,15 hence it is a highly suitable technique for fragrance analysis.…”