The Best Harvesting Time of Three Eucalyptus Leaves to Obtain More Oil and 1,8-Cineole Contents

Authors

1 Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, P.O. Box: 13185-116, Tehran, Iran

2 Research Institute for Islamic and Complementary Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The seeds of three Eucalyptus species (Myrtaceae) (Origin: Australia), including:, Eucalyptus loxophleba Benth., Eucalyptus microtheca F.Muell.  and Eucalyptus largiflorens F.Muell. were cultivated in 1993-1994 at two research stations (Shushtar and Dezful) in Khuzistan province (western south region of Iran) and a research station (Kashan) in Isfahan province (Central region of Iran). These species have good adaptability to climatic condition of this area (dry warm). The leaves of these species were collected in middle of the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) at two consecutive years, in order to find out the best harvesting time with the highest oil yield and 1,8-cineole percentage. After drying the plant materials in shade, their essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation. The oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS devises. The results showed that the harvesting time had significant effects on oil yield and 1,8-cineole content of the Eucalyptus species. The main components of the harvested oils consisted of 1,8-cineole and a-pinene. The highest oil yields of E. loxophleba Benth. in all localities were obtained from the samples collected in autumn and winter. The highest percentage of 1,8-cineole for Dezful site was extracted from the winter (70.2%) and autumn (63.2%) samples, For Kashan sits, was extracted from the winter (55.5%) and spring (58.1%) samples and for Shushtar site, was extracted from the summer samples (53.6 and 49.6%). The highest oil yield of E. microtheca F.Muell.   was obtained in spring from Dezful and Shushtar localities and in autumn from Kashan locality. For both Shushtar and Dezful sites, the highest percentage of 1,8-cineole was obtained in winter and summer samples whereas for Kashan site, was obtained in summer samples. The highest oil yield of E. largiflorensF.Muell. was obtained in autumn and winter for Dezful and Shushtar samples and summer for Kashan samples. The highest percentage of 1,8-cineole was extracted in summer and winter for Shushtar samples, in spring and winter for Dezful samples and winter for Kashan samples.

Keywords

References

1.  Abou-Dahab AM, Abou-Zeid EN. Seasonal changes in the volatile oil, cineole, and rutin contents of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. polyanthemos. Egypt J Bot. 1974;16:345-348.
2. Adams RP. Identification of Essential Oil Components by Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectroscopy, Allured Publishing Corp., Carol Stream, USA. 1995.
3. Ammon DG, Clarke DA, Tjandra J. Rapid and accurate determination of terpenes in the leaves of Eucalyptus species. Analyst. 1985;110:921-924.
4. Brooker MIH, Barton AFM, Rockel BA, Tjandra J. The cineole content and taxonomy of Eucalyptus kochii Maiden and Blakely and E. plenissima. Gardner and Brooker. Australian J Bot.1988;36:119-129.
5. Juergens UR, Stober M, Vetter H. Steroidartige Hemmung des monozytaren Arachidonsaure metabolismus und der 1L-1b-produktion durch 1.8-cineole, Atemw Lungenkrkh. 1998;24:3-11.
6. Kaspar P, Repges R, Dethlefsen U, Petro W. Sekretolytika im Vergleich. Anderung der Ziliarfrequenz und Lungen function nach Thrapie mit Cineol undAmbroxol. Atemw-Lungenkrkh. 1994;20:605-614.
7. Mahlo DH. Obstruktive Atemwegserkrankungen. Mit Cineol die Lungenfunktionsparameter verbesern. Therapiewoche 1990;40:3157-3162.
8. Wittman M, Petro W, Kaspar P, Repges R, Dethlesten U. Zur Thrapie chronisch obstruktiver Atemwegser-Krankungen mit Sekretolytika. Doppelblinder, randomisierter Cross-over-Vergleich zwischen Cineol und Ambroxol. Atemw-Lungenkrkh. 1998;24:67-74.
9. Juergens UR, Dethlefsen U, Steinkamp G, Gillissen A, Repges R, Vetter H. Anti-inflammatory activity of 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) in bronchial asthma: a double blind placebo-controlled trial. Respiratory Med. 2003; 97:250-256.
10. Muhammad R, Chaudhary FM. Seasonal variation in the composition of essential oil of E. camaldulensis from Pakistan. Pak J Sci Ind Res. 1999;42:282-283.
11. Simmons D, Parsons RF. Seasonal variation in the volatile leaf oils of two Eucalyptus species. Biochem Syst Ecol. 1987;15:209-215.
12. Tsiri D, Kretsi O, Chinou IB, Spyropoulos CG. Composition of fruit volatiles and annual changes in the volatiles of leaves of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn. Growing in Greece. Flavour Fragr J. 2003;18:244-247.
13. Congrong H, Murray F, Lyons T. Seasonal variation in monoterpen emissions from Eucalyptus species. Chemosphere: Global Change Sci. 2000;2:65-76.
14. Doran J, Caruhapattana B, Namsavat S, Brophy JJ. Effect of harvest time on the leaf and essential oil yield of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, J Essent Oil Res. 1995; 7:627-632.
15. Sefidkon  F, Bahmanzadegan A, Assareh MH, Abravesh Z. Seasonal Variation in Volatile Oil of Eucalyptus Species in Iran . J Herbs Spices Med Plants. 2009;15:106–120.
16. Zrira SS and Benjilali BB. Seasonal changes in the volatile oil and cineole contents of fiveEucalyptusspecies growing in Moroco. J Essent Oil Res. 1996;8:19-24. 
17. Grafsmann J, Hippeli S, Dornisch K, Rohnert U, Beuscher N, Elstner EF.Antioxidant properties of essential oils. Possible explanations for their anti-inflammatory effects, Arzneim Forsch/Drug Res. 2000;50:135-139. 
18. Reynolds JEF, Prasad AB. editors, Martindle – The Exta Pharmacopoiea. 28th ed. London: Pharmaceutical Press. 1982;1017-1018.
19. Shibamoto T. Retention Indices in Essential Oil Analysis, In: Capillary Gas Chromatography in Essential Oil Analysis. Edits., P. Sandra and C. Bicchi, p 259-274, Huethig, Verlag, New York. 1987.
Journal of Medicinal plants and By-product
Volume 1, Issue 2
September 2012
Pages 117-131

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics