On the way to a quality control of the essential oil of fennel by means of Raman spectroscopy.

Essential oils are one of the most valuable natural products. The price of special essential oils that can be purchased on the market strongly depends on the quality of the product. The quality, which depends on the quantitative and qualitative variation of different monoterpenes, varies with respect of the origin and the harvesting period. This contribution reports on a Raman spectroscopic study on the essential oil occurring in fennel. Cross-sections of fennel seed were investigated by use of Raman spectroscopy and Raman mapping to localize the essential oil and to analyze its chemical composition directly in the plant. Furthermore the practicability of a home-built mobile transportable Raman spectrometer to perform on-site measurements was successfully tested. (c) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.