Comparison of the Chemical Composition of the Essential Oils from the Fresh and Dried Leaves of Greenwayodendron Suaveolens (Engl. & Diels)

Abstract

Greenwayodendron suaveolens (Engl.& Diels) is a tree that grows with a straight regular trunk, dark bark as well as a small crown with horizontal branches. Greenwayodendron suaveolens bark and roots are used for vermifuges, and as an aphrodisiac while the leaf is used as a pain-killer, and as a cure for dysenteries and fevers. The leaves of Greenwayodenron Suaveolens were collected at the biology farm of Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye Ogun State and extracted by hydro-distillation using Clevenger apparatus. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the wet and dried leaf essential oil were performed using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). From the GC-MS analysis, a total of twenty-eight (28) compounds (98.01 %) were identified in the fresh sample, while the dried sample had fourteen (14) compounds representing 99.90 % of the constituents. The major components of Greenwayodendron Suaveolens essential oils were: terpenes 73.75 % and 67.91 %, oxygenated terpenes; 7.04 % and 9.24 % , hydrocarbons; 6.37 % and 24.89 % ,alcohols; 6.75 % and 2.81 % in the fresh and dried leaf oil samples while heterocyclic compounds 13.02 5 and esters 1.48 % were present only in the fresh leaf oil samples. The high percentage of terpenes in both oil samples could justify the traditional use of the plants in treating pains, headaches and inflammations. This study presents the results of the essential oil composition of the fresh and dried leaf samples of Greenwayodendron suavolens which will be useful in research.