TITLE: Qualitative Analysis of Vietnamese Coriander Herb by Gas Chromatography-Mass

Spectrometry (GC-MS)

INTRODUCTION:

Plants in general have long been a source of biologically active compounds; extracts of
herbs have been used widely as alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Many compounds such as
antimicrobial, antiseptic, sedative and diuretic compounds can be isolated from a single herb.
Today, a large portion of prescription drugs is still derived from plants.

Plant distillates contain compounds with an essence with oily consistency which is called
essential oil. Menthol has been used externally as a mild local anesthetic and antiseptic and it has
been used internally as gastric sedative. Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata) is a member
of the knotweed family and is also known as Vietnamese mint or Rau Ram. It’s a tender
perennial and thrives from late spring to early autumn. It will eventually succumb to frost, but
you can bring the plants indoors and place them on a sunny windowsill for winter harvesting.

OBJECTIVE:

 To perform an extraction of Vietnamese Coriander herb by liquid-liquid extraction.

 To analyze and identify constituents in the essential oil of Vietnamese Coriander herb by
using GC-MS.

REAGENTS AND SOLUTIONS:

 Analytical grade methanol

 Analytical grade dichloromethane
 Anhydrous magnesium sulfate

SAMPLE:

 Dried Vietnamese Coriander herb leaves (100 g)

APPARATUS:

 Round bottom flask

 West condenser
 250 mL separatory funnel
 13 mm diameter syringe filter (0.25 𝜇m pore size)

INSTRUMENT:

 Gas chromatography (Agilent Technologies 6890N) equipped with HP 5971A mass

selective detector (MSD) and 30 m x 0.25 𝜇m HP5-MS capillary column.

PROCEDURE:

a. Sample Preparation

1. About 3-4 g of Vietnamese Coriander herb leaves were chopped and 25 mL of

methanol was added in a round bottom flask.
2. A condenser packed with glass beads was placed in a vertical position above and
connect directly to the round-bottom flask.
3. The mixture was percolated for 30 minutes at a gentle boil with refluxing.
4. The cooled solution was decanted from the round-bottom flask and then, extracted
with 5 mL dichloromethane in a 250 mL separatory funnel.
5. The organic layer was removed and dried with 1 g anhydrous magnesium sulfate.
6. The mixture was filtered to remove any particulate matter.

b. Instrument Set-up (may vary depending on instrument):

Injection port : split(20:1)
Injection port temperature : 280 oC
Oven temperature : Initial temperature 70 oC for 4 min. Then ramp the
temperature at 10 oC min-1 up to 140 oC and 20 oC min-1
up to 280oC.
 Column flow rate : 40 mL min-1
Detector temperature : 290 oC

c. Separation of essential oils in Vietnamese Coriander herb.

2 𝜇L of each sample was extracted. If necessary, temperature programming may be
altered to optimize the separation.

d. Identification of essential oil constituents in sample extract.

The major compounds in the extract were identified by comparing their mass spectra with
the library in the GC-MS database.

RESULTS:

Vietnamese coriander (daun kesum):

No. Retention time Area(%) Library/ID Quality

1. 13.432 4.47 Decanal 99

2. 16.541 18.72 Dodecanal 98

3. 17.714 12.57 Alpha humulene 95

4. 17.627 11.40 Beta caryophyllene 97

DISCUSSION:

In this experiment of Vietnamese coriander analysis, 4 constituents of oil essential were

found. The first peak gave the retention time of 13.432 min and 4.47%. With the 99% quality,
the constituent was determined as Decanal (C10H20O). Decanal was a saturated fatty aldehyde
formally arising from reduction of the carboxy group of capric acid (decanoic acid). It has a role
as an antifungal agent, a fragrance and a plant metabolite. It is a saturated fatty aldehyde and a n-
alkanal (Bochra, 2015).

Decanal

The second essential oil found was Dodecanal (C12H24O) with the quality 98%, retention
time of 16.541 min and area 18.72%. Dodecanal known as Lauric aldehyde was found in citrus.
Lauric aldehyde occurs in peel oil from Citrus species and kumquat. Also present in ginger,
coriander, chervil and scallop. Lauric aldehyde was a flavouring agent. Dodecanal was a long-
chain fatty aldehyde that was dodecane in which two hydrogens attached to a terminal carbon
were replaced by an oxo group (Bochra, 2015). It has a role as a plant metabolite. It was a 2,3-
saturated fatty aldehyde and a long-chain fatty aldehyde. It derives from a hydride of a dodecane.

Dodecanal
 Alpha humulene (C15H24) or alpha-caryophyllene has the retention time of 17.714 min
with the area 12.57% and quality of 95%. Humulene was an isomer of β-caryophyllene, and the
two were often found together as a mixture in many aromatic plants. α-Humulene has been found
in many aromatic plants on all continents, often together with its isomer β-caryophyllene. α-
Humulene was contained in the essential oils of aromatic plants such as Salvia officinalis
(common sage, culinary sage), up to 29.9% of the essential oils of Mentha spicata, 10% of the
leaf oil of Litsea mushaensis, 4% of the leaf extract of Cordia verbenacea and 25% trans-
Caryophyllene which one of the chemical compounds that contribute to the taste of the spice
Persicaria odorata or Vietnamese coriander and the characteristic aroma of Cannabis
(‘Gardening Savvy’,2018).

α- humulene

Beta-Caryophyllene (C15H24), also known as caryophyllene or (−)-β-caryophyllene has

retention time of 17.627 min with the area 11.4% and 97% of quality, was a natural bicyclic
sesquiterpene that was a constituent of many essential oils including that of Syzygium
aromaticum (cloves), Cannabis sativa, rosemary, and coriander. It was usually found as a
mixture with isocaryophyllene (the cis double bond isomer) and α-humulene (obsolete name: α-
caryophyllene), a ring-opened isomer. beta-Caryophyllene is notable for having both a
cyclobutane ring and a trans-double bond in a nine-membered ring, both rarities in nature
(Properzi, 2012). Beta-Caryophyllene was a sweet and dry tasting compound that can be found in
a number of food items such as allspice, fig, pot marjoram, and roman camomile, which makes
beta-caryophyllene a potential biomarker for the consumption of these food products.
 β-caryophyllene

These 4 constituents in essential oils found as the highest quality in the Vietnamese
coriander. Chemical and nutrient content in Vietnamese coriander were decanal, dodecanol,
decanol, alpha humulene and beta caryophyllene.

In this experiment, the error might happened such as during preparation of Vietnamese
coriander, the herbs did not dry thoroughly and some moisture might retained inside leaves. Dry
herb was neeeded to increase the surface area in order for better extraction. Dry weighed herbs
always give less error than fresh plants because fresh herbs can change according to climate or
weather before it extracted in the laboratory. Other than that, dry process of herb should be
conducted in control space because to prevent any particulate matter or moisture from mix with
herbs.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, the Vietnamese coriander leaves were extracted by liquid-liquid

extraction. The Vietnamese coriander was succesfully extracted and the greenish organic layer of
extraction was observed. The constituents of essential oil in the Vietnamese coriander was
analyzed from the chromatogram of Mass-spectrometry detector. The Vietnamese coriander
showed the presence of four essential oils which were decanal, dodecanal, alpha-humulene and
beta-caryophyllene with 99%, 98%, 95% and 97% of quality respectively.
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