Aromatic plants of tropical Central Africa. II. A comparative study of the volatile constituents of Zanthoxylum leprieurii (Guill. et Perr.) Engl. and Zanthoxylum tessmannii Engl. leaves and fruit pericarps from the cameroon

The essential oils of leaves and fruit pericarps of Zanthoxylum leprieurii (Guill. et Perr.) Engl. and Zanthoxylum tessmannii Engl. were analysed by GC and GC‐MS. Those obtained from Z. leprieurii contain only monoterpenoids, mostly hydrocarbons; terpinolene represents almost 50% of the leaf oil and trans‐β‐ocimene is predominant in the fruits (44%). Both contain fairly large amounts of A‐3‐carene (⋍14%). As with Z. leprieurii, Z. tessmannii gives volatile oils which contain mainly monoterpenoids, the oil distilled from the leaves containing only hydrocarbons; among them, α‐pinene (40.4%), myrcene (27.1%) and trans‐β‐ocimene (22.4%) are the most important. The composition of the fruit oil is more diverse, with a fairly large proportion of oxygenated products (⋍46%) among which citronellol, geraniol and their acetates are the most abundant.