Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of the Volatile Oils of Palisota hirsuta (Thunb) K. Schum and Trema orientalis (L) Blume

Sherifat A Aboaba,Iqbal M Choudhary

doi:10.5539/ijc.v7n221-26

Abstract

Leaves of Palisota hirsuta (Thunb) K. Schum. and Trema orientalis (L) Blume. were collected from a farm land in Nigeria. The volatile oils were isolated using hydrodistillation and GC-MS method to determine their yield and composition. Antimicrobial activities of various oils obtained were also evaluated. Thirty-three (33) and thirty-seven (37) compounds were identified representing 98.9% and 99.4% of the entire constituents in the leaf oils of P. hirsuta and T. orientalis respectively. The main components of P. hirsuta oil were nonanal (19.6%), 1-Octen-3-ol (9.4%), hexenal (7.7%) and o-Cymene while those from T. orientalis were tetradecanal (33.3%), n-hexadecanoic acid (19.5%), farnesylacetone (5.6%) and linalool (4.3%). Both leaf oils displayed different activity against the tested microorganisms.

Highlights

We present for the first time, the chemical compositions of the volatile compounds and evaluate the antimicrobial activities of the leaf essential oils of P. hirsuta and T. orientalis for the multi-purpose utilization
Light yellow volatile oils were obtained with yield of 0.77% (w/w) for P. hirsuta and 0.41% (w/w) for T. orientalis respectively on dried matter basis
A total of 33 compounds were identified in the leaf oil of P. hirsuta accounting for 98.9% of the total composition of the essential oil while 37 compounds were identified in T. orientalis representing 99.4% of the entire oil

Summary

Introduction

P. hirsuta is a robust plant in forest re-growths about 2 – 4 m high with distinct main stem and large leaves (Inafidon et al, 2010). It is common along road sides and in forest clearing in closed forest in southern Ghana and distributed from Senegal to Cameroon; in Fernando Po and the Congo while the young leaves are eaten in Nigeria (Dokosi, 1998). The chemical investigation of dichloromethane and ethylacetate extracts from the trunk and root barks of T. orientalis afforded the isolation of 16 compounds among which is hexacosanoic acid. The stem bark extract of T. orientalis exhibited hypoglycaemic activity (Dimo et al, 2006). We present for the first time, the chemical compositions of the volatile compounds and evaluate the antimicrobial activities of the leaf essential oils of P. hirsuta and T. orientalis for the multi-purpose utilization

Materials and Methods

Screening for Antimicrobial Activity

Results and Discussion

Conclusions