Essential Oil Composition of Gmelina arborea Roxb., Verbenaceae, From Nigeria

Abstract

The chemical composition of the fruit oil of Gmelina arborea Roxb., Verbenaceae, was examined by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). One hundred components were identified which accounted for 92.7% of the oil including 24 trace compounds. The ubiquitous terpenes occurred in lesser amount. The fruit oil was characterized by the abundance of (Z)-3-hexenol (17.9%), 1-octen-3-ol (8.4%) and hexanol (6.1%) among the aliphatic alcohols; heptacosane (5.6%), pentacosane (3.8%) and I-pentacosene (3.2%) among the hydrocarbons; and nonanal (8.7%) and (E)-2-decenal (3.0%) as the main aldehyde constituents.