Advanced preparative techniques for the collection of pure components from essential oils

Preparative gas chromatography (prep-GC), as opposed to analytical capillary GC, is an analytical technique that allows the separation and isolation of natural products, specifically volatile pure components from complex matrices. Over the years, different approaches were used for this purpose, using both mono- and multidimensional systems coupled with different types of collection systems. In this paper, some of the most relevant results obtained in the isolation of components from essential oils by prep-GC, are reviewed. Furthermore, the main limitations of prep-GC arising from its daily use and the possible solutions for overcoming drawbacks, are discussed.