Determination of formaldehyde in cigarette smoke and inhibitory effect of plant volatile extracts on the formation of formaldehyde

Formaldehyde (FA) is a carcinogenic compound present in cigarette smoke. In this study, the amount of formaldehyde was analyzed in 5 kinds of cigarettes and the inhibitory effect of plant volatile extracts on the formation of FA was investigated. After extraction of the cigarette sample, FA was converted into its thiazolidine derivatives by reaction with cysteamine, and then measured using a gas chromatography-nitrogen phosphorus detector (GC-NPD). The concentrations of FA in cigarette smoke were found between 138.24 and 217.82 μmol/g cigarette smoke. Extracts isolated from Welsh onion (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.), crown daisy (Chrylsanthemum coronarium L.), green pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), and sesame dropwort (Oenanthe javanica DC) were used for analyzing their inhibitory effects on the formation of FA. The inhibitory effects of extracts of Welsh onion, garlic, crown daisy, green pepper, and sesame dropwort on the formation of FA were 64, 47, 38, 47, and 19%, respectively.