Essential oils from Croton zambesicus Muell. Arg. growing in Cameroon

Three essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves, roots and stem barks of Croton zambesicus Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) were analysed by GC and GC-MS. This West Tropical African species has many uses, especially as a drug source for the cure of many ailments. The three organs were found to contain 0.17-0.34% yield of oil. The qualitative composition of the three types of oil were found to be similar; those from the leaves and stem bark were found to be rich in monoterpenes (69.6% and 75.2% respectively), while the root bark oil contained 57.0% sesquiterpenes. The root and stein barks oils were found to be rich in oxygen-containing compounds. with spathulenol (14.0%) and linalool (33.8%) as the major components, respectively. The leaf oil was found to contain mainly hydrocarbons and only 11.6% of oxygenated compounds. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.