Simultaneous determination of aromatic and terpenic constituents of cloves by means of HPLC with diode array detection

An HPLC method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of aromatic and terpenic constituents of cloves on a C8 RP column, with the mobile phase consisting of a pH 3.5 phosphate buffer-triethylamine (30%) and acetonitrile (70%); a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min and a diode-array detector were used. Complete separation of all analytes (eugenol (EUG), eugenol acetate (AEUG), beta-caryophyllene, alpha-humulene and caryophyllene oxide) was achieved within 7 min. Good linearity was found in the range 0.125–40.0 µg/mL for EUG and AEUG and in the range 0.250–20.0 µg/mL for the terpenic compounds. After validation, the method was successfully applied to the analysis of clove oil and clove extract samples. The results obtained indicate good accuracy (recovery percentage mean value corresponding to 99.9%) and satisfactory precision.