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® CN column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm), a n-hexane:ethanol (85:15) mobile phase and an UV detector (set at 233 nm). 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 μg ml−1. Precision and accuracy were determined at the concentration of 20 μg ml−1. The concentration of citral in C. citratus 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.