Authenticity control of essential oils containing citronellal and citral by chiral and stable-isotope gas-chromatographic analysis

Enantioselective capillary GC on a Supelco β-DEX 225 column (heptakis(2,3-di-O-acetyl-6-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-β-cyclodextrin SPB 20poly—20% diphenyl, 80% dimethylsiloxane) and isotope-ratio mass spectrometry, coupled online with capillary GC on an HP5 column have been used for origin-specific analysis and authenticity control of essential oils, for example lemon (Citrus limon), lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus and Cymbopogon flexuosus), citronella (Cymbopogon nardus L.—Ceylon type and Cymbopogon winterianus—Java type), Litsea cubeba, Lippia citriodora, lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora), lemon gum (Eucalyptus citriodora), and, especially, precious lemon balm oil (Melissa officinalis L.). Isotope data (δ¹³C_PDB and δ²H_V-SMOW) for citral (neral + geranial) and citronellal from on-line GC–C/Py–IRMS and chiral data for citronellal in these essential oils are reported. The possibility of using these data to determine the origin of these essential oils and to detect adulteration is discussed. Principal-components analysis (PCA) of specific compounds in two essential oils of lemongrass and Litsea cubeba was performed as a practical statistical method for distinguishing between these two types of oil.