Evaluation of essential oil composition of different parts of Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden using GC-MS

Abstract

Background. Heracleum sosnowskyi Manden (Apiaceae) produces a great amount of chemical compounds. It is one of the most dangerous plants for human health, because contact with the sap leads to intense skin burning. The main function of the sap is to protect the plant from vertebrates, invertebrates, fungi, bacteria and viruses, being both repellent and toxic to them. It has already been shown that the extracts obtained from above-ground parts of different types of hogweeds exhibit a wide range of physiological activities. Objectives. The aim of the current study was to evaluate qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oil in different parts (leaves, flowers, stems and roots) of Heracleum sosnowskyi M., using GC-MS. Methods. Plant material. The plants were collected during flowering phase. Raw material was dried at 25 °C for chemical analysis. Distillation. 40 g of dried material were weighed into a 1 L round-bottomed flask, 1000 mL of distilled water was added and the mixture was stirred. The thermostatic bath with glycerol was used for extraction, maintaining a constant temperature of 120 °C. The prepared test samples were kept in a thermostatic bath for 3 hours until the essential oil layer was separated. 1 mL of hexane was added to the collected distillate. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Analysis of essential oils was performed by GC-QP2010 (Shimadzu, Japan) with a mass spectrometer (RTX-5 MS column, 30 m × 0.25 mm × 0.25 μm; Perkin Elmer, USA). Analytical conditions: injector temperature 240 °C, column temperature 60 °C, injectable sample volume – 1 μL. The temperature in the gas chromatograph was programmed step by step from 60 °C (0 min.) to 150 °C 2 °C /min. speed and from 150 °C to 285 °C raise 10 °C /min. speed. Results. Qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oil in different parts of Heracleum sosnowskyi M. was evaluated. 30 essential oil components [...].