{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T20:12:29Z","timestamp":1791317549001,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006379","name":"Medical University of Varna","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["002-2026"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["002-2026"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006379","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["002-2026"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["002-2026"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03jkshc47","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The analytical characterization of essential oils (EOs) is often interpreted primarily in terms of biological variability, although analytical conditions may also affect compositional profiling and data comparability. In this study, the influence of chromatographic conditions on gas chromatography\u2013mass spectrometry (GC\u2013MS) profiling was investigated. Five EOs representing chemically diverse plant matrices, including Pistacia lentiscus (resin and stem) and leaf oils from Salvia rosmarinus, Laurus nobilis, and Thymus vulgaris, were analyzed using two capillary columns with different stationary phases: RTX-5MS (5% phenyl-substituted polysiloxane) and CP-Sil 5 CB (100% dimethylpolysiloxane). Comparative analysis revealed reproducible differences in chromatographic profiles and relative peak-area distribution, particularly within terpene-rich regions containing structurally related compounds. The most pronounced effects were observed for highly volatile monoterpenes, which were underrepresented under CP conditions. These findings demonstrate that chromatographic selectivity and column geometry may affect the semi-quantitative representation of EO profiles and contribute to variability in reported compositions. Overall, the results highlight the importance of carefully controlled analytical conditions in EO characterization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules31162744","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T09:14:28Z","timestamp":1786094068000},"page":"2744","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Chromatographic Conditions as a Source of Analytical Variability in GC\u2013MS Profiling of Essential Oils"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-5814-9929","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdessamad","family":"Beraich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environment and Applied Chemistry (LCAE), Team: Physical Chemistry of the Natural Resources and Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Mohamed First University, Oujda 60000, Morocco"},{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3225-3067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela","family":"Batovska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Chemical Engineering, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. 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Bonchev Str., Bl. 103, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yousra","family":"Belbachir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environment and Applied Chemistry (LCAE), Team: Physical Chemistry of the Natural Resources and Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Mohamed First University, Oujda 60000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-0134-242X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hasnae El","family":"Allaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Engineering Sciences and Applications, National School of Applied Sciences of Al Hoceima, Abdelmalek Ess\u00e2adi University, Al Hoceima 32003, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2617-4776","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Krastena","family":"Nikolova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Varna, 84 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd., 9000 Varna, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Magdalena","family":"Szechy\u0144ska-Hebda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Polish Academy of Sciences, W. Szafer Institute of Botany, 31-512 Krakow, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anass","family":"Choukoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environment and Applied Chemistry (LCAE), Team: Physical Chemistry of the Natural Resources and Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Mohamed First University, Oujda 60000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7249-923X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Burak","family":"Dikici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ataturk University, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khadija","family":"Haboubi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Engineering Sciences and Applications, National School of Applied Sciences of Al Hoceima, Abdelmalek Ess\u00e2adi University, Al Hoceima 32003, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincent","family":"Lequart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Transformations and Agro-Resources Unit, Universit\u00e9 d\u2019Artois\u2014UniLaSalle, ULR7519, F-62408 B\u00e9thune, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7507-5910","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patrick","family":"Martin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Transformations and Agro-Resources Unit, Universit\u00e9 d\u2019Artois\u2014UniLaSalle, ULR7519, F-62408 B\u00e9thune, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abdelmonaem","family":"Talhaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Environment and Applied Chemistry (LCAE), Team: Physical Chemistry of the Natural Resources and Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Mohamed First University, Oujda 60000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bunse, M., Daniels, R., Gr\u00fcndemann, C., Heilmann, J., Kammerer, D.R., Keusgen, M., Lindequist, U., Melzig, M.F., Morlock, G.E., and Schulz, H. 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