Preparative isolation and purification of cuminaldehyde and p-menta-1,4-dien-7-al from the essential oil of Cuminum cyminum L. by high-speed counter-current chromatography

High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) technique in semi-preparative scale was successfully used in isolation and purification of cuminaldehyde and p-menta-1,4-dien-7-al from the essential oil of Cuminum cyminum L. by using a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane–methanol–water (5:4:1, v/v/v). The targeted compounds were isolated, collected, purified by HSCCC in the head–tail mode, and then analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). A total of 12.72 ± 0.22 mg of cuminaldehyde and 10.61 ± 0.27 mg of p-menta-1,4-dien-7-al were obtained from 50 mg of the essential oil of C. cyminum L. in less than 6 h, with purities of 95.42% and 97.21%, respectively. In addition to GC-EI/MS, the identity of the cuminaldehyde was further confirmed with the retention time using the method of standard addition, while, the structural identification of p-menta-1,4-dien-7-al was performed with GC-EI/MS, ¹H NMR and ¹H–¹H COSY.