چكيده لاتين :
It has been a long time since aromatic plants and aromatic materials have been used in
perfumery.Therefore, production of perfume flask had become noticeable among craftsmen and artists.
The use of plants and other aromatic substances in perfumery has been possible by obtaining their
essential oils. The production of perfumes are mainly derived from plants such as roses, cloves and
saffron, incense and sandalwood and plant gums. Amber, musk and Azfar were also taken from some
animals such as Gazelle and Amber fish. Perfume flasks are little containers made by a variety of
different materials that have been shaped or embellished by standard technology and ornaments of their
historical period. Glass has been one of the most favorite materials to make a perfume flask through the
time. This research gives a brief overview of the history of perfumery, from the Achaemenid era to the
first centuries of the Islamic era. Then it analyzes remained materials inside the five glass containers,
which are considered to be perfume bottles, from the Parthian period to the first centuries of the Islamic
era. These glass perfume bottles are kept in the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran currently.
This analysis has been done by Coupled gas chromatography with mass spectrometer in the gas
chromatography laboratory of Research Institute of Medicinal Plants and Drugs, Shahid Beheshti
University. The main composition which has been detected and identified are waxes, cholesterol, and
natural fatty acids. Due to its sensitivity, speed, versatility, and ability to identify traces of compounds in
a mixture, the GC-MS technique's application is a brilliant method for archaeological organic chemistry
and can be applied to analyse any substance containing volatile organic compounds expected. In two
samples of our collection, residual perfumes were extracted.For this test, the containers were first washed
with n-hexane solvent and the solution was transferred into the sampling dishes for transfer to the
laboratory. On the day of sampling, the objects were selected from the samples which were photographed.
Then, through a Pasteur pipette, about 2 ml of n-hexane was placed in the dishes and the material was
washed by rotating and the extract transferred into the pipette and prepared for the analysis by
evaporating of hexane. It should be noted that n-hexane solvent has no destructive effect on the objects
and because of its high volatility, immediately it will be disappeared completely and there is no trace of it
in the container.Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a powerful tool for
separation and identification of natural and chemical materials. In this method, after the initial
preparation, the components of a mixture are injected into the device through a special syringe in the
amount of half a microliter of the tested solution. The materials are separated based on the difference
between the boiling point and interaction with the chromatographic column, will be entered into the
Ionization Mass Spectrometry source, because of generating powerful electric and magnetic fields, the
mixture’s components will be identified quantitatively and qualitatively based on their electrical charge to
mass ratio (m/z). For this analysis, 1 to 3 mg of the sample was taken and 1 ml of KOH hydroalcoholic
solution (potash alcohol) was added and then subjected to alkaline hydrolysis at 60 ° C for 3 hours. After hydrolysis, the neutral organic components were extracted with n-hexane. Then, according to the internal
standard, injection of the solution was analyzed in GC-MS. It was then interpreted based on comparisons
of components and reference materials with library items and mass spectrum. In order to identify the type
of fatty acid compositions, GC-MS equipped with a DB-5 column with a length of 30 m and an inner
diameter of 0.25 mm and a thin layer thickness of 0.25 μm was used. The oven temperature was increased
from 60 °C to 250 °C at velocity of 5 °C/min and was kept at 250 °C for 10 minutes. Helium carrier gas
with a flow rate of 1.1 ml/min was used and 70-eV electrons was used for ionization and a mass range
was from 43 to 456 amu. In order to analyze the essential oil using gas chromatography coupled with
mass spectrometry, the components were identified. The components and compounds were identified by
the use of various parameters such as retention time (RT) and retention index (RI), study of mass
spectrum and comparing the spectrum with standard compounds and basic data in the GC-MS database
by Xcalibur Software. The relative percentage of each components of the essential oil was obtained
according to the area under the curve in the GC. Based on the chromatogram table, the following results
were obtained:Sample 1 (Table 1, Figure 1), the perfume flasks from the Arsacid era: the most important
compounds identified in container No. 1 including the paraffin compounds, cholesterol (animal-based
oils), vegetable oils, and fatty acids and waxes. Also, an important substance in the solution obtained
from washing was flavonoid. It is a polyphenolic substance which is found in the extract obtained from
the petals and pollen of plants. Sample 2 (Table 2, Figure 2), a semi-thin blue glass container, probably
from the Arsacid era: the most important components identified include an essential oil, wax and fatty
acid. Sample 3 (Table 3, Figure 3), a thin glass container probably from the Sassanid era: the most
important compounds identified include fatty acids such as palmitic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid.
Such materials indicate that this container has been in contact with vegetable-base oils and 80% of the
substances identified in this container are fatty acids. Sample 4 (Table 4, Figure 4), a semi-thin glass
container from the first centuries of the Islamic period: there are only paraffin materials such as wax and
beeswax and do not contain any fatty acids. The most important substance in this sample is natural
linalool, which is classified as a perfume. Example 5 (Table 5, Figure 5), the perfume flask with base
from the first centuries of the Islamic period: the most important compounds identified are plant-based
fatty acids, paraffin compounds or waxes, and phthalate compounds.According to the tests performed in
two case studies (samples No. 2 and 4), aromatic substances and essential oils are present in the identified
compounds. It shows that natural perfumes and essential oils can actually stay in the glass and the
adsorption of glass is very high for keep of such materials. Except for sample No. 4, other samples
contain a variety of fatty acids and proved that such glasses were used as preservative objects. Wax can be seen in all samples. Fats have been identified in various forms such as cholesterol (animal base oil), palmitic acids (plant base fats) and paraffinic substances.
