Pressurized liquid extraction and GC-MS analysis for simultaneous determination of seven components in Cinnamomum cassia and the effect of sample preparation.

A pressurized liquid extraction and GC-MS method was developed for simultaneous quantitative determination of the seven components, including cinnamaldehyde, copaene, cinnamic acid, coumarin, 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde, 2-methoxycinnamic acid and safrole in Cinnamomum cassia. The results showed that methanol and ethanol was not available for extraction of cinnamaldehyde and 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde due to aldol reaction. The developed method was validated to be sensitive, accurate and simple, and was successfully employed for the analysis of 15 samples of C. cassia. The contents of the investigated components were significantly variant and cinnamaldehyde is the most abundant compound, but safrole was not detected in all samples.