Comparative analysis of essential components between herbal pair Ramulus cinnamomi - Herba schizonepetae and its single herbs

Comparative analysis of common essential constituents between single herbs, Ramulus cinnamomi (RC) and Herba schizonepetae (HS), and herbal pair (HP). RC – HS was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with alternative moving window factor analysis (AMWFA) and temperatureprogrammed retention indices (PTRIs). In all, 33, 37, and 43 essential chemical components in essential oil of RC, HS and HP RC-HS were determined qualitatively and quantitatively, representing 86.31, 89.17 and 91.94% total contents of volatile oil of RC, HS and HP RC-HS respectively. Analysis by the method of AMWFA indicates that, there are 20 common essential constituents in HP RC-HS and single herb RC; 24 common volatile constituents in HP RC-HS and single herb HS and 7 common volatile constituents among these three samples.