Analysis of pulegone and its enanthiomeric distribution in mint-flavoured food products

A procedure for the extraction and determination of pulegone enanthiomers in mint essential oils and mint products ( syrups, dried leaves, toothpaste, lozenges, candy and chewing-gum) was developed. The compounds were recovered from the food matrices by employing a simultaneous distillation-extraction (SDE) technique with a Likens-Nickerson apparatus using dichloromethane as an extraction solvent. The analyses were performed by capillary gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Experiments on food products spiked at different pulegone concentrations showed recoveries ranging from 95 to 106%. The detection limit was about 5mg1(-1) for both pulegone enanthiomers and good linearity was found in the concentration range 0.5-25mg1(-1). In a number of repeated analyses, the pulegone peak height repeatability (RSD) was 0.2%. The pulegone enanthiomers were separated and quantified by enanthioselective multidimensional gas chromatography. The results of analyses conducted on essential mint oils and mint-flavoured food products are reported.