Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This work compares the composition at different temperatures of gaseous phase of bergamot essential oil at equilibrium with the liquid phase.
A new GCβMS methodology to determine quantitatively the volatile aroma compounds was developed. The adopted methodology involved the direct injection of headspace gas into injection port of GCβMS system and of known amounts of the corresponding authentic volatile compounds. The methodology was validated. This study showed that gaseous phase composition is different from that of the liquid phase at equilibrium with it.
Keywords: Bergamot, Essential oil, Volatile compounds, Gaseous phase, Gas chromatographyβmass spectrometry, Aromatherapy. Phytotherapy employs fully characterized active ingredients extracted from plants for the treatment and prevention of many diseases.
Essential oils and their components exhibit various biological activities and are also used for human disease prevention and treatment. They exert antiviral, antidiabetic, antimicrobial and cancer suppressive activities [ 1 , 2 ], furthermore they play a key role in cardiovascular diseases prevention including atherosclerosis and thrombosis [ 3 , 4 ]. Today aromatherapy, a branch of phytotherapy, is gaining momentum as complementary therapy to the traditional medicine [ 5 ].
Aromatherapy uses essential oils via inhalation or massage as the main therapeutic agents to treat several diseases. The inhalation of volatile aromatic substances extracted from plants can affect the mood and state of health of the person by inducing psychological and physical effects [ 6 β 10 ]. The transdermal and transmucosal application of essential oils also concerns the phytotherapy [ 11 ]. Recently, some papers [ 12 , 13 ] have tried to give scientific value to the aromatherapy, traditionally based on empirical observations and evaluations also poorly stringent, by establishing criteria similar to those that support the rigorous scientific research [ 14 ].
