The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves, flowers and fruits of Callistemon lanceolatus were analyzed by GC/MS. The oil yields were 0.68%, 0.52% and 0.25%, respectively. Thirty six compounds were identified in leaf oil, while thirty four compounds were identified in both the flower and fruit oils. 1,8-Cineole was the main component in the three oils in percentage 87.8% in leaf oil, 73.8% in flower oil and 40. 9% in fruit oil, followed by p-menth-1-en-8-ol which present in higher percentage in fruit oil (4.3%) than in leaf oil (2.9%). The flower oil was characterized by its high content of alpha -pinene (27.2%) and cis-asarone (9.7%).
In vitro radical scavenging activities of these oils obtained by DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay, were also evaluated between 5 and 20mg/ml. At 20mg/ml, leaf, fruit and flower oils showed good capacities to act as a non specific donor of hydrogen atoms or electrons, quenching 91.6, 71.5 and 52% of the radicals, respectively. The IC50 values of the oils were 7.6, 11.8 and 19.1mg/ml, respectively.
References: [1] Guenther, E. (1961). The Essential Oils, Vol VI, Van Nostrand, NewYork. [2] Adams, R. P. (1995). Identification of Essential Oils Components by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. Allured Publication, Carol Stream, Illinois. [3] Calliste, C. A. et al. (2001). J. Agr. Food Chem. 49: 3321–3327.
