Quantitative Analysis of Eugenol Content in Clove Oil (Eugenia caryophyllus) Extracted from Flower, Stem, and Leaf using GC-MS Instrument

Abstract

The quantification of eugenol in clove oil (Eugenia caryophyllus Linn.) is crucial due to its extensive application in the agricultural industries as a bio-based pesticide, given its efficacy in controlling insect pests, nematodes, pathogenic fungi, and bacteria. The antimicrobial mechanisms of eugenol include disrupting cell membrane function, inactivating enzymes, inhibiting chitin synthesis, nucleic acid and protein synthesis, and blocking ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production. Despite its importance, there is a lack of comprehensive studies comparing eugenol content across different parts of the clove plant. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a quantitative analysis of eugenol content in clove oil extracted from the flower, stem, and leaf of the plant. The objective is to determine the variation in eugenol concentration among these plant parts using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The methodology involved the extraction of clove oil from the flower, stem, and leaf, followed by analysis with the Agilent 7890B GC-MS instrument. The results revealed average eugenol concentrations of 97.24% in the flower, 93.42% in the stem, and 79.74% in the leaf. These findings suggest that the flower contains the highest concentration of eugenol, which has significant implications for optimizing the extraction process in commercial applications. The study contributes to the understanding of the distribution of eugenol within clove plants and provides a basis for selecting the most potent plant parts for industrial extraction.