Aromatic Plants of Tropical West Africa. VII. Essential Oil of Leaf and Root Bark of Uvaria chamae P. Beauv. from Benin

Abstract

The chemical composition of the essential oils from leaves and root bark of Uvaria chamae P. Beauv. growing in Benin has been investigated by GC and GC/MS. The analyses showed a great difference between the compositions of leaf oil and root bark oil. The leaf oil was characterized as being sesquiterpene-rich (93%) with a predominance of germacrene D (45%); the major constituents of the root bark oil were aromatic compounds, mainly methoxylated derivatives of p-cymene (55%) and benzyl benzoate (13.5%).

Key Word Index:

• Uvaria chamae
• Annonaceae
• essential oil composition
• germacrene D
• thymoquinol dimethyl ether
• benzyl benzoate