An optimized and validated 1H NMR method for the quantification of α-pinene in essentials oils

• 1H NMR can be efficiently used to quantify α-pinene in essential oils.
• 1H NMR spectroscopy is used for quality control of essential oils.
• A fast method for analysis of α-pinene in essential oils using 1H NMR was developed.
• Quantification of α-pinene by 1H NMR is comparable to GC–MS and GC-FID.

The authenticity and composition of commercial essential oils requires strict quality control. Due to the importance of α-pinene containing essential oils, a rapid and efficient method for quantification of this terpene in oils of eucalyptus, pink pepper and turpentine using 1H NMR was developed and validated. All evaluated parameters (selectivity, linearity, accuracy/precision, repeatability, robustness, stability of analyte and internal standard in solutions) showed satisfactory results. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.1 and 2.5 mg respectively. These values indicated that α-pinene was detected in 35 mg samples containing at least 0.3% of this compound. In addition, a minimum of 8% of α-pinene in the sample was required for quantification. Furthermore, the standard deviations found in the 1H NMR methodology were less than 1% and were lower than those obtained by gas chromatographic analysis. Statistical tests have shown that the results obtained by 1H NMR methodology are similar to those obtained by GC-FID technique using external and internal standardization and normalization within 95% confidence. R&R values lower than 10% have shown that all the methods are appropriate and the 1H NMR method is suitable for quantification of α-pinene in samples of essential oils since this method possessed the smallest R&R (1.81) value.

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