Comparative studies on variation of β-Asarone composition in Acorus calamus Linn. by GC and HPLC

The objective of this study was to assess the essential oil yields and chemical composition of the root of two varieties of Acorus calamus, namely the local and Jabalpur varieties. Gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis identified β-Asarone as the major chemical constituent. Notable findings revealed that fresh samples exhibited higher essential oil yield and β-Asarone content compared to various drying methods. Specifically, powdering the Jabalpur material resulted in a significant percentage (2.0%) of essential oils, with negligible variations observed in β-Asarone content. Additionally, besides GC, a straightforward and effective reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method was developed for β-Asarone analysis from A. calamus root extracts in different solvents. Interestingly, the spent material also contained a considerable amount of β-Asarone. Among the different solvent extractions, ethyl acetate extracts exhibited the highest percentage (62%) of β-Asarone, while the lowest amount was recorded in methanol extract (37.47%).