Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from the Stem Barks of Three Cinnamomum Species

The stem barks essential oils of three Vietnamese species of Cinnamomum grown in Vietnam were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main monoterpene compounds of Cinnamomum kunstleri Rild., were 1, 8-cineole (25.3%), α-terpineol (10.7%) and terpinen-4-ol (6.7%). However, linalool (27.0%), limonene (23.4%), terpinen-4-ol (9.8%) and a-phellandrene (9.5%) were the principal monoterpene components of Cinnamomum cambodianumLecomte. Sesquiterpenes represened mainly by aromadendrene (26.0%), β-caryophyllene (17.2%) and α-copaene (5.7%) were the dominant compounds in the bark oil of Cinnamomum rigidifolium Kosterm.

Aims: The aim of this study was to isolate essential oils from the stem barks of Cinnamomum kunstleri, Cinnamomum cambodianum and Cinnamomum rigidifolium and investigate the volatile constituents present therein.

Study Design: Disitillation of essential oils from the plant materials and analysis of their chemical composition.

Place and Duration of Study: The stem barks of C. kunstleri, C. cambodianum and C. rigidifolium were collected from Bạch Mã National Park, Thừa Thiên-Huế Province, Vietnam, in August 2012.

Methodology: About 500 g of air-dried plant samples was shredded and their oils were obtained by separate hydrodistillation for 4 h at normal pressure, according to the Vietnamese Pharmacopoeia. The chemical constituents of the distilled oils were analyzed by means of gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Results: The major constituents of C. kunstleri were identified as 1, 8-cineole (25.3%), α-terpineol (10.7%) and terpinen-4-ol (6.7%) while linalool (27.0%), limonene (23.4%), terpinen-4-ol (9.8%) and a-phellandrene (9.5%) were the principal components of C. cambodianum. However, aromadendrene (26.0%), β-caryophyllene (17.2%) and α-copaene (5.7%) were the dominant compounds in C. rigidifolium

Conclusion: The present oil compositions were found to be different from the results obtained previously from the essential oils of Cinnamomum species grown in Vietnam and other parts of the world.