Chantana Aromdee and Butsayamat Rattanadon

pp. 285 - 288

Abstract

      Dried pikul flower (Mimusops elengi L., Sapotaceae) is used in many recipe′s of Thai traditional medicine i.e. cardiotonic and stomachic. In this study, fresh and dried pikul flowers were investigated. The odour of pikul flower, even when it was dried, is very strong and characteristic. The constituents of volatile oils in fresh and dried pikul flowers extracted by
ether were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 2-Phenylethanol, 4-hydroxybenzenemethanol and cinnamyl alcohol were mainly found in fresh flower, 10.49, 8.69 and 6.17%, respectively. Whereas those mainly found in dried flowers were long chain carboxylic acid ester and (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid, 5.37 and 4.71% of ether extract, respectively.
        An analytical method simultaneously determining benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol and methyl paraben was developed by using the GC-FID method. The percent recoveries were 91.66, 104.59 and 105.28%, respectively. The intraday variations (% RSD) were 7.22, 6.67 and 1.86%; and the interday variation were 3.12, 2.52 and 3.55%, respectively. Detection limits were 0.005, 0.014 and 0.001 ppm, and quantitation limits were 0.015, 0.048 and 0.003 ppm, respectively. Benzyl alcohol, 2-phenylethanol and methyl paraben content of dried flowers (9 samples from various drug stores in Thailand and one sample from China) were 6.40-13.46, 17.57-196.57 and 27.35-355.53 ppm, respectively.