Solvent‐assisted supercritical fluid extraction for the isolation of semivolatile flavor compounds from the cinnamons of commerce and their separation by series‐coupled column gas chromatography

Abstract

Abstract Solvent‐assisted supercritical fluid extraction is superior to Soxhlet extraction, solvent extraction at reflux, and simultaneous setam distillation solvent extraction for the isolation of semivolatile compounds from the cinnamons of commerce. Optimized extraction conditions are described using carbon dioxide at 300 atm and 70°C to extract 0.5 g of powdered cinnamon mixed with 4.5 g of anhydrous sodium sulfate to which 1.0 ml of acetonitrile was added at the start of the sequential 30 min static and 30 min dynamic extraction. The semivolatile compounds were collected by solvent trapping in ethyl acetate and analyzed directly by series coupled‐column gas chromatography after filtration and partial solvent evaporation. Twenty‐one compounds identified by mass spectrometry were quantified in twenty‐four samples of cinnamon and cassia purchased in Sri Lanka, Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. True cinnamon is easily distinguished from cassia by the presence of eugenol, absence of δ‐cadinene, much lower amounts of coumarin, and larger amounts of benzyl benzoate. Principal component analysis using the relative composition of the twelve major semivolatile compounds provides a clear distinction between true cinnamon and cassia as well as useful interspecies differences which can be used for further classification.