Constituents, antibacterial activities and toxicological assay of essential oils of Artocarpus communis Forst (Moraceae) and Sphenocentrum jollyanum (Menispermaceae)

Abstract

The volatile composition of the leaf of Artocarpus communis Forst (Moraceae) and root of Sphenocentrum jollyanum (Menispermaceae) were studied. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus while the analyses were performed by GC and GC-MS. The main constituents of A. communis (leaf) were α-pinene (14.1%), 6-methyl-5-heptene-2-one (7.0%), α-phellandrene (8.9%), α-ionone (6.1%), E-nerolidol (8.3%) and 1,8-cineole (5.5%). The main compounds identified in the root oil of S. jollyanum were α-eudesmol (26.1%), α-pinene (11.2%), isocaryophyllene (7.7%), 1.8-cineole (6.3%) and β-pinene (5.3%). The yields of the oils were 0.15% and 0.20% for S. jollyanum and A. communis respectively. The toxicity of both oils to the brine shrimp indicated that A. communis had LC 50 of 24.50 µg/mL and S. jollyanum 84.87 µg/mL. A. communis showed very weak activity to P. mirabilis while S. jollyanum was active against B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa.