• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.261-266
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• 1985

Many monoterpen-erivatives are contained in edible plants. Some monoterpen-derivatives have been assessed as negative factors in the food safety. Among them thuone and 4-caranone are important toxic constituents of many plant essential oils. In this study, convenient detection methods of thujone and 4-caranone in oil were developed. The colour reactions of toxic thujone and 4-caranone were performed in oder to detect those in foods and oils. Sodium pentacyanonitrosylferrate (II) react with thujone to produce thujzoximinocarboxylic acid which becomes the six ligand in the ferrate complex (red colour reaction for thujone). Sodium pentacyanonitrosylferrate (II) cleaves 4-caranone to the red ferrate complex of caranketonic acid.