Proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometric measurements of volatile compounds contained in peppermint oil capsules of relevance to real-time pharmacokinetic breath studies

With the growing interest in the use of breath volatiles in the health sciences, the lack of
standardization for the sampling and analysis of exhaled breath is becoming a major issue leading to
an absence of conformity, reproducibility and reliability in spectrometric measurements. Through the
creation of a worldwide ‘peppermint consortium’, the International Association of Breath Research
has set up a task force to deal with this problem. Pharmacokinetic studies are proposed, and a
real-time analytical technique that is being used is proton transfer reaction-time-of-flight-mass
spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS). This paper presents details on how the volatile compounds contained in a
peppermint oil capsule, and hence on breath, appear in a PTR-ToF-MS. To aid that study, the key
volatiles in the headspace of peppermint oil were first identified using gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry, notably: menthol, menthone, 1,8-cineole, menthofuran, limonene, α -pinene and β
-pinene....

Source: Journal of Breath Research - July 16, 2019 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Michaela Mal ásková, Ben Henderson, Prema D Chellayah, Veronika Ruzsanyi, Paweł Mochalski, Simona M Cristescu and Chris A Mayhew Source Type: research