Second-order electrochemical data generation to quantify carvacrol in oregano essential oils.

A novel analytical method using voltammetric second-order modeling based on multivariate curve resolution-alternating least-square (MCR-ALS) is presented for the first time for the quantitation of carvacrol (CAR) in oregano essential oils (OEO). The second-order cyclic voltammetry data were generated on the basis that CAR shows a diffusional system. Thus, the scan rate (v) was used as a second instrumental mode and cyclic voltammograms at different v were acquired for a single sample, generating the second-order data. CAR determination was performed in presence of thymol, included as a potential interferent. Results demonstrated that MCR-ALS successfully exploited the second-order advantage and the recoveries were not statistically different than 100%. The limits of detection and quantitation were estimated using the MCR-ALS which were 6.27 × 10-5°mol°L-1°and 1.90 × 10-4°mol L-1, respectively. Finally, the developed methodology was implemented to quantify of CAR in OEO samples.