Analysis of Essential Oil in Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocephala by GC-MS and Chemometric Resolution Method

OBJECTIVE To analyze the essential oil components in Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocephala. METHODS Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with chemometric resolution method(CRM), a useful chemometric resolution method which can be used to resolve overlapping peaks in chromatogram, together with the temperature-programmed retention index for assistant identification, was employed to qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oil components. RESULTS A total of 33 chromatographic peaks were resolved, and 29 components in the essential oils were identified, which accounted for 95.93% of the total relative contents. The main chemical compositions in the studied sample were 2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)phenol, γ-selinene and 3,7(11)-selinadiene, etc. All of these volatile alcohols accounted for about 70.07% of the total essential oils, and the other 26 constituents only accounted for about 25.86% of the total contents. CONCLUSION It could more really and comprehensively reflect the essential oil components in Rhizoma Atractylodes Macrocepha by GC-MS combined with CRM method, which can be used to resolve the overlapping chromatographic peaks than just used the GC-MS.