The chemical compositions of the essential oils from the peel of ripe and unripe fruits of Hymenaea courbaril L., obtained by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The main constituents of the essential oil from the peel of the ripe fruits were the sesquiterpenes α-copaene (11.1%), spathulenol (10.1%) and β-selinene (8.2%), while germacrene-D (31.9%), β-caryophyllene (27.1%) and bicyclogermacrene (6.5%) were the major compounds in the oil from unripe fruits. The essential oils were tested against Aedes aegypti larvae and showed LC 50 values of 14.8 ± 0.4 μg/mL and 28.4 ± 0.3 μg/mL for the ripe and unripe fruit peel oils, respectively. From the peel of the ripe fruits, the diterpenes zanzibaric acid and isoozic acid were isolated, along with the sesquiterpene caryolane-1,9β-diol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this sesquiterpene in the genus. The structures of all compounds isolated were identified on the basis of their spectral data (IR, MS, 1D-and 2D-NMR) and by comparison with literature spectral data.
The antioxidant and larvicidal activities of Tephrosia egregia extracts and its major component, dehydrorotenone, were studied. High antioxidant activity was found for dehydrorotenone and methanol and ethyl acetate extracts from roots and stems, respectively. Among the tested extracts, the hexane extract from stems showed potent larvicidal activity (LC 50 12.88 ± 0.64) while low activity was found for dehydrorotenone.
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