Development and Validation of HPTLC Densitometric Method for Identification and Quantification of Geraniol in Palmarosa Oil

India is the main producer of palmarosa oil obtained from rosha grass (Cymbopogan martini var. motia) of family Graminae. The essential oil obtained from the grass is rich in geraniol content. The oil is commercially obtained by hydro-steam distillation of rosha grass. Oil of palmarosa and its separated fraction geraniol are widely used in perfumery industry. The palmarosa oil is valued due to geraniol and largely used as base for fine perfumery. In this article, a simple, rapid, cost-effective and accurate method using high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been developed for separation, identification and quantification of geraniol in palmarosa oil. Separation and quantification of palmarosa are achieved by HPTLC using mobile phase of toluene ethylacetate (92.5:7.5) followed by separation on precoated silica gel 60 F-254 aluminium plates and densitometric determination carried out after derivatization with vanillin-sulfuric acid reagent at lambda(max), 400 nm, in absorption-reflectance mode. The calibration curves were linear in the range of (1-7 mu g) and all the distinguished bands were observed at 400 nm. The method was also evaluated for different validation parameters such as linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), specificity, selectivity and sample stability. The amount of geraniol varied from 78.3% to 78.9% by HPTLC and 78.2% to 78.7% by gas chromatography-flame-ionization detector (GC-FID).