Essential oils of Mentha pulegium and Mentha rotundifolia from Uruguay

Abstract

Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves of Mentha pulegium L. and Mentha rotundifolia (L.) Huds. from Uruguay were analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Oxygen-containing monoterpenes were the main group of constituents in both oils. Pulegone, isomenthone and menthone were the major components in the oil of M. pulegium, whereas piperitenone oxide and (Z)-sabinene hydrate were the major ones in M. rotundifolia. Enantiomerically pure (-)-menthone, (+)-isomenthone, (+)-isomenthol, (-)-menthol and (+)-pulegone were detected by multidimensional gas chromatography in the case of M. pulegium oil.Óleos essenciais obtidos por hidrodestilação das folhas de Mentha pulegium L. e Mentha rotundifolia (L.) Huds. do Uruguay foram analisados por GC-FID e GC-MS. O grupo de monoterpenes oxigenados foi o mais importante em ambos os óleos, sendo que a pulegona, isomenthona e menthona foram os constituintes maioritarios no óleo de Mentha pulegium, no entanto, o ôxido de piperitenona e (Z)-hidrato de sabineno foram os maioritarios na Mentha rotundifolia. (-)-mentone, (+)-isomentone, (+)-isomenthol, (-)-menthol e (+)-pulegone enantioméricamente puras foram detectadas por cromatografía gasosa multidimensional no caso do óleo de Mentha pulegium.

Keywords

• Mentha essential oil
• multidimensional chiral gas chromatography