Comparative gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of essential oils extracted using 4 methods from the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus L.

Background: Eucalyptus globulus L. (family, Myrtaceae) is one of the world′s most widely planted genera. E. globulus L., commonly referred to as Tasmanian blue gum, is a fast growing, evergreen tree, native to Tasmania and South-East Australia. Apart from its extensive use in pulp industry, it is also produces Oleum Eucalypti (eucalyptus oil) that is extracted on commercial scale in many countries such as China, India, South Africa, Portugal, Brazil, and Tasmania, as a raw material in perfumery, cosmetics, food beverage, aromatherapy, and phytotherapy. Materials and Methods: Traditional hydrodistillation (HD), solvent extraction (SE), ultrasonication (US), and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) were conducted for the extraction of essential oil from the leaves of E. globulus. Each oil was evaluated in terms of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPTLC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) fingerprinting with qualitative and semi-quantitative composition of the isolated essential oil by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GCMS), the extract yield of essential oil was 2.60%, 2.2%, 2.0%, and 3.6% v/w, respectively, for HD, SE, US, and SFE. Results: A total of 53 compounds were identified by GCMS. Comparative analysis indicated that SFE was favorable for extraction of monoterpene hydrocarbon, sesquiterpene hydrocarbon, and oxygenated sesquiterpene hydrocarbon. HD, SE, and US had certain advantages in the extraction of aliphatic saturated hydrocarbons organic acid and esters. Overlay, FTIR spectra of oil samples obtained by four extraction methods were superimposed with each other showing similar components. The maximum separation of compound seen at 254 nm and lesser at 366 nm by HPTLC fingerprinting which again showed superimposed chromatograms. Conclusion: It is concluded that different extraction method may lead to different yields of essential oils where the choice of appropriate method is very important to obtained more desired component with higher physiological activities.