Session: Analytical Division Poster:

Essential oils of several flowers are commercially available.Their chemical composition varies greatly due to the sources of these flowers, extraction methods, and genesis of the flowers. Some of the essential oils are mixtures of natural and/or synthetic fragrant compounds. Even though these different oils vary in chemical compositions, they give a "signature" smell of the flower. The chemical composition of a commercially available synthetic marigold oil was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oil was separated in Agilent 7890 GC System using HP-5 MS 5% Phenylmethyl SILOX, 30 m x 250 micrometer x 0.25 micrometer capillary column; and the components were identified in Agilent 5977 mass spectrometer using NIST library of mass spectra. Over 30 components were found and identified. The major components were found to be linalool, phenylmethyl alcohol, 2-phenylethyl acetate, dihydro-beta ionone, cis and trans nerolidol, versalide, and gurjunene. In contrast, the natural marigold oil has major chemical composition of dihydrotagetone, tagetone, E- and Z-beta-ocimene. The compounds in the commercial essential oil of marigold are notably inexpensive compared to the compounds found in the natural marilgold oil.

Edgar Rubio

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