We report the isolation and determination of the essential oil composition from the leaves
and rhizomes of Polianthes tuberosa (P. tuberosa), Polianthes sessiliflora (P. sessiliflora) and Polianthes
longiflora (P. longiflora) species. These essential oils were extracted using supercritical CO2
extraction method, and their structures were characterised by GC-FID and GC/MS approaches. Methyl
2-aminobenzoate, isoeugenol, 5-octadecene, benzyl benzoate, 1-nonadecene, and diisobutylphthalate
were identified as their major chemical compositions. Moreover, the anti-cancer activity
of the total essential oils from these three Polianthes species was evaluated against five cancer cell
lines.