CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF ESSENTIAL OIL EXTRACTED FROM COMMERCIAL CINNAMON

Abstract

Cinnamon is a very versatile product. It can be used in cooking as a seasoning and or in the medicinal area due to its antimicrobial and antifungal properties, conferred by its active compound, cinnamaldehyde. Cinnamon essential oil reflects the same organoleptic and medicinal properties of the plant. The present work approaches the analysis by thin layer chromatography (CCD) of the essential oil extracted from commercial cinnamon. For the procedure, the cane and powder ed shins were used. The method chosen for extraction was steam drag distillation, followed by liquid-liquid extraction. In thin layer chromatography, alumina plates were used as stationary phase and three solvents of distinct polarities as moving phases: hexane, chloroform and ethanol. The distance covered by the sample was greater with ethanol, followed by chloroform. With hexane, the essential oil has not left the point of application. This is due to the majority compound of commercial cinnamon, cinnamaldehyde, which has a polar part and therefore interacts more strongly with polar solvents, chloroform and ethanol. When using a low-polar solvent such as hexane, interactions are very weak because they occur through induced permanent dipole-dipole bonds. Therefore, the sample remains adsorbed in the stationary phase, which is polar. Thus, it is possible to notice that the essential oil of commercial cinnamon presents expressive polarity, which is due to cinnamaldehyde, which reflects its chemical characteristics in the oil.