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Comparison between thin-layer chromatography and overpressured layer chromatography fingerprints of commercial essential oils and accelerated solvent extraction plant extracts

  • Original Research Paper
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Abstract

Developing fit-to-purpose analytical screening methods for plant marker constituents by simple and affordable techniques represents a constant and important request from the current transformation chain of plant products. In this work, methods developed on classical thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and overpressured layer chromatography (OPLC) have been applied on some of the most valuable commercial plant products, such as star anise (Illicium verum Hook. f.) essential oil and extracts, common thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) and sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) essential oils and acerola fruit (Malpighia punicifolia L.) hydroalcoholic extracts, to evaluate OPLC potentiality in comparison with TLC performances in the detection of some characteristic constituents. OPLC provided higher performance with respect to TLC in all experiments performed due to higher selectivity demonstrated on all the tested marker compounds except for flavonoids in acerola extracts. Considering the usage of planar chromatography in the quality control of plant derivatives, the present paper shows how the OPLC protocols were both highly time- and solvent-saving in comparison with classical TLC.

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Abbreviations

ASE:

Accelerated solvent extraction

EO:

Essential oil

HD:

Hydrodistillation

EA:

Ethyl acetate

M:

Methanol

T:

Toluene

Et:

Ethanol

HEX:

n-Hexane

DCM:

Dichloromethane

C:

Chloroform

W:

Water

FA:

Formic acid

PMA:

Phosphomolybdic acid solution

PM:

Permanganate solution

NTS‒PEG:

Naturstoff‒polyethylene glycol solutions

SV:

Vanillin solution

SA:

Sulphuric acid solution

EU:

European Union

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank Mascia Brunelli spa (Milan, Italy) for the free supply of BIONISIS Personal OPLC 50 apparatus during the whole period of investigation.

Funding

No funds, grants, or other support was received for conducting this study.

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Author notes

  1. Enrico Serni

    Present address: Centro di Sperimentazione Agro-Alimentare e Forestale Laimburg, 39040, Vadena, Ora (BZ), Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Pisa, 56126, Pisa, Italy

    Enrico Serni, Luisa Pistelli & Alessandra Bertoli

Authors
  1. Enrico Serni
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  2. Luisa Pistelli
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  3. Alessandra Bertoli
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analyses were performed by ES and AB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ES and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Enrico Serni.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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Not requested for the conduction of the study following its purposes and contents.

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Serni, E., Pistelli, L. & Bertoli, A. Comparison between thin-layer chromatography and overpressured layer chromatography fingerprints of commercial essential oils and accelerated solvent extraction plant extracts. JPC-J Planar Chromat 34, 113–120 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00764-021-00102-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00764-021-00102-y

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