Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Essential Oil of Phellolophium madagascariensis Baker (Umbellifereae)

Abstract

Phellolophium madagascariensis Baker is an aromatic plant, used in traditional medicine to fight both cough and hysteria. The isolation of oil by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts produced a yield of 0.95% (v/m). GC and GC/MS analyses enabled the identification of 33 components, representing 99.3% of the oil. Limonene and sabinene were the major constituents, respectively, at 58.5% and 30.25% in the oil.

Pharmacological tests on isolated organs—trachea—of guinea pigs have been undertaken and results would justify the collected ethnobotanical data.

Key Word Index:

• Phellolophium madagascariensis
• Umbellifereae
• essential oil composition
• limonene
• sabinene
• pharmacological tests