Author(s):

Martin Muthee Gakuubi

Abstract: Plant extracts and secondary metabolites such as essential oils (EOs) have a wide range of benefits and applications. Essential oils have been recognized as some of the most promising compounds in the development of novel products particularly in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, food and perfumery industries. The current research work aimed at extraction and chemical characterization of the essential oils from fruits of Toddalia asiatica L. and leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. Essential oil extraction was carried out by use of steam distillation method in a modified Clevenger-type apparatus, while the chemical composition of the oils was established by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The oil yields were 0.5181 and 0.2514% (w/w) in T. asiatica and E. camaldulensis, respectively. The GC-MS analyses identified a total of 41 and 54 compounds corresponding to 90 and 95% of the total oil in T. asiatica and E. camaldulensis, respectively. Both oils were rich in monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes and their analogues namely; oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The oils additionally contained non-terpenoid oxygenated hydrocarbons which accounted for 4.9 and 14.8% of all the identified components in T. asiatica and E. camaldulensis, respectively.

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