Investigation of borneols sold in Taiwan by chiral gas chromatography

Borneol is a monoterpene that is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. There are two different products sold in Taipei’s traditional Chinese medicine market, natural and chemically synthesized borneol. Chemically synthesized borneol contains four stereoisomers, (+)-isoborneol, (−)-isoborneol, (−)-borneol, and (+)-borneol. The ratio of these four isomers in chemically synthesized and natural borneol products was determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. A huge variation between these products is highlighted in this survey. The results suggest that the Food and Drug Administrations in Asian countries should establish a regulatory standard regarding the ratio of the four different borneol isomers in both natural and chemically synthesized borneol.