Lipophilic components of different therapeutic mud species.

OBJECTIVE Mud, which contains organic and mineral ingredients, is used for the treatment of several degenerative diseases. It has been proposed that beneficial effects of mud are not only related to its local thermal effects, but also to its chemical components. Unlike hydrophilic components, the lipophilic components of the mud extract have not been described precisely thus far. Thus, we aimed to determine the lipophilic components of the different mud species. METHODS Three different mud species (e.g., krenogen, tone, and fango) were analyzed by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). RESULTS There were organic substances with fatty-acid structures found in the structure of mud. Torf mud species contain the most compounds. The compounds of three mud species differ from each other. CONCLUSIONS The chemical structure of mud does not only contain hydrophilic organic substances, such as humic, fulmic, and ulmic acids, but also low-molecular-weighted organic substances composed of fatty acids in the majority. Moreover, it would not be appropriate to explain mud with a single term, since it has different chemical structures and a new classification of the mud species is required.