Essential oils
The essential oils are organic substances, liquid and sometimes solid, the smell and taste acres, irritating and even caustic. They may be distilled without decomposition, they are not miscible in water but are soluble in alcohol and ether. They have not the fatty and unctuous feel of the normal oils and we can’t make soap. Their chemical composition is varied. Frequently, they are composed of hydrocarbons, terpenoid type of the formula C10H16 or a multiple and a oxygenate compound or camphor. Some contain esters, alcohols, phenols; others contain sulfur. They exist in all parts of organs plants but especially on leaves and flowers.
Our laboratories provide the possibility of a selective and sensitive analysis by using SPE and SPME techniques of sample preparation, coupled to GC/MSD and GCxGC/MSD, to determine species in complex matrices such as essential oils.