Constituents of the essential oils from members of Nigerian Meliaceae: Trichilia monadelpha (Thonn.) J. J. de Wilde and Trichilia prieuriana A. Juss.

InformationTrichilia monadelpha (Thonn.)J. J. de Wilde and Trichilia prieuriana A. Juss are medicinal plants traditionally used in the treatment of several ailments and diseases.The current study investigated the chemical compositions of the essential oils from T. monadelpha and T. prieuriana.Essential oils of these plants were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.The major components in the essential oil of T. monaldepha were (E)-β-caryophyllene (26.2%), caryophyllene oxide (18.2%), δ-cadinene (8.5%), α-copaene (5.1%) and α-humulene (4.7%).The dominant constituents in the oil of T. prieuriana were α-santalene (44.4%), caryophyllene oxide (11.1%), trans-α-bergamotene (8.4%) and 6-methyl-α-ionone (5.4%).Some of these identified components of essential oils from T. monadelpha and T. peruriana were reported to have diverse pharmacological activities, which might be responsible for their usefulness in folklore medicine.