# Rapid GC-MS Characterization of Oleoresin, Turpentine and Rosin Using Tailored Chromatographic Programs

## TL;DR

This paper introduces rapid GC-MS methods to analyze the chemical composition of pine oleoresin, turpentine, and rosin for quality control and industrial use.

## Contribution

A unified GC-MS framework with tailored temperature programs for rapid and accurate characterization of pine-derived compounds is developed.

## Key findings

- The main terpenic compounds in P. pinaster oleoresin include α-pinene, longifolene, and β-caryophyllene.
- P. elliottii rosin is dominated by abietic, isopimaric, and palustric acids.
- The GC-MS framework identifies over 95% of compounds in pine matrices and supports routine GC-FID quantification.

## Abstract

Oleoresin from Pinus spp. consists of turpentine and rosin, whose compositional variability demands reliable analytical methods for quality control and industrial processing. This study provides three rapid methods for qualitative and quantitative analyses of oleoresin, turpentine, and rosin by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using a single DB-1 column and matrix-specific temperature programs. Oleoresin and rosin were first derivatized using diazomethane, and compounds were identified by elution order, fragmentation patterns, and reference mass spectra. Quantification employed external calibration with α-pinene and abietic acid as representative standards. In P. pinaster oleoresin, the main terpenic compounds were α-pinene (6.67 ± 1.08%), longifolene (2.45 ± 0.20%), and β-caryophyllene (1.71 ± 0.15%), while levopimaric (33.75 ± 2.70%), neoabietic (13.97 ± 1.70%), and abietic acids (12.60 ± 2.90%) predominated among resin acids. P. elliottii rosin contained mainly abietic (45.99 ± 4.82%), isopimaric (16.95 ± 2.55%), and palustric acids (9.74 ± 1.20%), and its turpentine comprised mainly α-pinene (34.16 ± 2.45%) and β-pinene (30.03 ± 1.20%). This unified GC–MS framework, supported by representative calibration standards, enables identification of >95% of compounds in pine matrices. Furthermore, once compound identification has been established through GC-MS, GC coupled with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) can be employed for routine quantitative analysis.