Qualitative Analysis of Citrus Fruit Extracts by GC/MS: An Undergraduate Experiment

Rinds from a variety of citrus fruits (grapefruit, lemon, lime, navel and Valencia orange, tangerine, and tangelo) were extracted and analyzed using GC/MS. In this experiment, sophomore organic chemistry students explore extraction techniques and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection as well as the theory associated with these methods. Furthermore, the experiment provides students with an opportunity to learn about essential oils and terpenes. Background information on terpenes, the extraction protocol, and GC/MS conditions used for analysis is provided. A summary is given of the most frequently observed terpenes and terpenoids identified for each citrus fruit mentioned above.