Chemical profiling of Bulgarian rose absolute (Rosa damascena Mill.) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and trimethylsilyl derivatives

A comprehensive chemical profiling of Bulgarian rose absolute (Rosa damascena Mill.) was performed by means of GC/MS and GC-FID. A protocol for simultaneous analysis of compounds with high structural diversity and volatility, involving a multistep temperature gradient and trimethylsilyl derivatives was applied for this purpose. As a result 132 compounds, mainly mono- and sesquiterpenoids were identified. The main constituents, representing 80.0-95.5% of the total content of the detected compounds, were quantified by means of GC-FID. The developed approach was applied to rose absolute samples from Egypt and Morocco, as well. The specific chromatographic fingerprint, characteristic for the country of production (climatic-geographical origin) could be used for a fast classification of the rose absolute and for authenticity control.