Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from the Leaves ofAcalypha fruticosa

Abstract

Essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of the leaves of Acalypha fruticosa Forssk (Euphorbiaceae) was analysed by GC and GC-MS methods. Forty components were identified in the oil which totally constituted 97.4 %. The oil is characterized by the abundance of caryophellanes with β-caryophyllene (42.0 %), α-humulene (11.1 %), isocaryophyllene (4.3 %) and caryophyllene oxide (5.2 %). Trans-phytol (15.2 %) is the second major component of the oil. This is the first report of the isolation and characterization of the essential oil from an Acalypha genus.