Fast Quantification of Phenylethyl Alcohol in Rose Water and Chemical Profiles of Rose Water and Oil of Rosa damascena and Rosa rugosa from Southeast China

A new and effective high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for fast quantification of phenylethyl alcohol in rose water. Chemical profiles of rose water and oil of Rosa damascena and Rosa rugosa from Southeast China were investigated by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Fast HPLC was achieved by rapid sample preparation and fast elution using acetonitrile–water (35:65, v/v) on Zorbax SB-C18. It was validated and applied to rapid analysis of different rose water samples, in which the contents of phenylethyl alcohol ranged from 454.6 to 526.7 µg/mL. GC and GC–MS revealed that rose water volatiles of R. damascena and R. rugosa mainly consisted of phenylethyl alcohol (90.2% and 78.7%, respectively) and citronellol (4.5% and 13.5%, respectively). This is the first report on fast HPLC quantification of phenylethyl alcohol in rose water and chemical profiles of rose water volatiles of R. damascena and R. rugosa from Southeast China. The developed HPLC method can serve as a fast quality control during rose water production.