Chemical Composition of Vitis vinifera Leaves Essential Oil and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extract

Abstract

Background/Objective Vitis vinifera leaves harvested from the developing canes are used in Balkan cuisines. The objective was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil and supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO2) extract of V. vinifera leaves harvested after the flowering of the new vine shoots. Methods The V. vinifera leaf oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and SC CO2 extraction. The application of different SC CO2 extraction parameters, determined by the Box–Behnken design, influenced the extraction yield and the chemical composition of the SC CO2 extracts. The optimal extraction conditions were set for the extraction yield and eucalyptol amount. The essential oil and SC CO2 extracts obtained were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Results The most abundant compounds present in the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation were: phytol (11.3%), α-cadinol (8.3%), trans-calamenene (8.2%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (7.0%), and τ-cadinol (6.6%). The extracts obtained by SC CO2 extraction consisted of twenty five compounds among which the most abundant were: phytol, squalene, eucalyptol, camphene and hexadecan-1-ol. Over the ranges of SC CO2 process parameters studied, those of pressure and extraction time had significant effect on the extraction yield and eucalyptol amount. Conclusion The results obtained determined the compounds present in V. vinifera leaves essential oil and SC CO2 extracts which contribute to the flavor and aroma of V. vinifera leaves.