Chemical Compositions and Anti-cancer Activities of the Volatile Oils of Leaves and Rhizomes of Three Polianthes Species

We report the isolation and determination of the essential oil composition from the leaves and rhizomes of Polianthes tuberosa (P. tuberosa), Polianthes sessiliflora (P. sessiliflora) and Polianthes longiflora (P. longiflora) species. These essential oils were extracted using supercritical CO2 extraction method, and their structures were characterised by GC-FID and GC/MS approaches. Methyl 2-aminobenzoate, isoeugenol, 5-octadecene, benzyl benzoate, 1-nonadecene, and diisobutylphthalate were identified as their major chemical compositions. Moreover, the anti-cancer activity of the total essential oils from these three Polianthes species was evaluated against five cancer cell lines.