LC determination of citral in Cymbopogon citratus volatile oil

It was the aim of this study to develop and validate a HPLC method for the quantitative determination of citral in Cymbopogon citratus volatile oil. The HPLC assay was performed using a Spherisorb (R) CN column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 mu m), a n-hexane:ethanol (85:15) mobile phase and an UV detector (set at 233 mm). The following parameters were evaluated: linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity, quantification and detection limits. The method showed linearity in the range of 10.0-30.0 mu g ml(-1). Precision and accuracy were determined at the concentration of 20 mu g ml(-1). The concentration of citral in C. citrates volatile oil obtained with this assay was 75%. The HPLC method developed in this study showed an excellent performance (linearity, precision, accuracy and specificity) and can be applied to assay citral in volatile oil. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.