Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Schinus molle L. (Peruvian pepper)

Bachheti RK; Archana Bachheti; Ramach; ran Santhanam Satyan

Abstract

Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil from Schinus molle L. (Peruvian pepper)

Author(s): Bachheti RK, Archana Bachheti, Ramachandran Santhanam Satyan

Background and Objective: Schinus molle L. (Family: Anacardiaceae), also known by the Pepper tree (in English) and Qundo berbere (in Amargna). American/ Peruvian pepper is an evergreen tree of culinary and has medicinal importance. It’s essential oil (EO) has proven bioactivities. The aim of this study was to determine chemical composition of essential oil of leaves of S. molle growing in Haramaya University (HU) Main Campus (Dire Dawa, Ethiopia).

Material and Method: Fresh leaves from S. molle were randomly collected from the plants growing in Haramaya University (Main Campus) was used to hydrodistillation with Clevenger apparatus to obtain essential oils. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) was used to determine chemical composition of essential oil.

Result: Result from GC-MS suggested forty nine volatile components in which, limonene (18.23%), elemol (12.75%) &α-phellandrene (10.40%), α-pinene (6.51%), p-cymene (6.7%) & spathulenol (5.52%) were the major compounds.

Conclusion: Comparison with the previous studies on essential Oil of S. molle from the different part of the worldsuggested twenty compounds were exclusively present only in HU EO sample. Compounds like elemol, spathulenol, β & γ-eudesmol were found to occur in highest concentration only in HU EO. Thus, the present investigation recommended that S. molle growing in HU-Main Campus comprises of a number of volatile compounds which are not accounted in other S. molle EO’s around the world.

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