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Aromatic Plants growing in Nigeria: Essential Oil Constituents of Cassia alata (Linn.) Roxb. and Helianthus annuus L.

Isiaka A. Ogunwande, Guido Flamini, Pier L. Cioni, O. Omikorede, Ridwan A. Azeez, Akinwunmi A. Ayodele and Yusuff O. Kamil

Natural Products Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Lagos State University, Badagry Expressway, P.M.B. 0001 Lasu Post Office, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria

Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, sede Chimica Bioorganica e Biofarmacia, Via Bonnanno 33, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Abstract: The volatile constituents identified from the leaves of two Nigerian plants are being reported. The oil samples were obtained from the studied plant species by hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus and then subsequently analyzed for their constituents by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The quantitatively significant constituents of the leaf oil of Cassia alata (Linn.) Roxb., (Fabaceae) were 1, 8-cineole (39.8%), β-caryophyllene (19.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (12.7%). Limonene (5.2%), germacrene D (5.5%) and α-selinene (5.4%) constituted the other significant compounds present in the oil. T he sunflower oil, Helianthus annuus L., (Asteraceae) was rich in α-pinene (16.0%), germacrene D (14.4%), sabinene (9.4%) and 14-hydroxy-α-muurolene (9.0%).

Keywords: Cassia alata; Helianthus annuus; 1,8-cineole; β-caryophyllene; caryophyllene oxide; germacrene D