Chemistry behind quality - The usability of herbs and spices essential oils analysis in light of sensory studies.

The common protocols for the quality determination of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), including herbs and spices (HSs), are the yield and composition of essential oils (EOs). Meanwhile, studies on the sensory quality of HSs showed that EOs composition does not translate to the profile of volatiles emitted from plants; therefore, they do not provide a background for sensory quality assessment. Thus, in this study, the differences in the composition of the EOs and the patterns of emission of unlimited (pure EOs) or limited (presence of a plant matrix) volatiles by headspace were measured for three chemotypes of mint, namely menthol, carvone, and linalool ones.