Characterization of powdered turmeric by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and gas chromatography mass spectrometry

Five commercial powdered turmeric samples were analyzed to identify major and minor components. The developed HPLC method allows the separation of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin, as well as three other major components and numerous minor components. The separation was accomplished on an octadecyl stationary phase using a mobile phase consisting of 50 mM ammonium acetate with 5% acetic acid and acetonitrile as the organic modifier. Thermospray mass spectra were obtained for all of the components. Particle beam EI-mass spectra were obtained for the curcuminoids, but could not be obtained for the other components due to the limitations of the particle beam interface when analyzing volatile and semi-volatile compounds. EI mass spectra for the volatile components were obtained by direct thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (DTD-GC-MS).