Essential oils from Plumbago europaea L. aerial parts (leaves, flowers): GC-MS analyses and literature biological properties

AbstractPlumbago europaea L. belongs to the family Plumbaginaceae, which has many medicinal and nutritional applications. It is among the significant medicinal herbs used widely in folk medicine in Syria to treat skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis. There are no previous studies of the aerial parts’ essential oils of this plant. So, herein we report on determining the chemical composition of essential oils extracted from the aerial parts of P. europaea L., which were collected from a mountainous area in Latakia Province, Syria, by utilising the GC-MS technique. The major compounds identified in the flower’s essential oils were: plumbagin (32.4%), hexadecanoic acid (13.79%), heneicosane (9.03%) and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-ethylphenol (8.40%). While in the leaves’ essential oils were phytol (17.97%), dibutyl phthalate (15.45%), heneicosane (6.91%) and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (6.72%). In addition, according to the published literature, most of the identified compounds have been reported to exhibit significant biological activities.Keywords: Plumbago europaea LGC-MSplumbaginphtalic acid estersessential oilsbiological activity AcknowledgementsWe thank Dr. Fadi Younis (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) for review the manuscript.Disclosure statementThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.Additional informationFundingThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.