Aromatic plants of tropical central Africa. I. Volatile components of two annonaceae from cameroon: <i>Xylopia aethiopica</i> (dunal) A. Richard and <i>Monodora myristica</i> (Gaertn.) Dunal

Abstract

Abstract The essential oils of fruits of Monodora myristica (Gaertn.) Dunal (or ‘false’ nutmeg) and Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) A. Richard were analysed by GLC and GC‐MS. The monoterpenoid content of M. myristica amounts to about 98%, mainly hydrocarbons (96.8%); among them, α‐phellandrene (48.8%), α‐pinene (15.9%), limonene (8.7%), myrcene (7.9%) and α‐thujene (6.3%) are the most important. A comparison is made with Myristica fragrans (the ‘true’ nutmeg) for which M. myristica is often used as a substitute. The composition of the oil of X. aethiopica is more diverse, with again mainly monoterpene hydrocarbons (66.6%) among which sabinene is the most abundant (23.9%), but with 25.1% of oxygenated compounds (essentially terpinen‐4‐ol and α‐terpineol) and 8.3% of sesquiterpenene hydrocarbons (with 4.3% of α‐muurolene).