Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

GC-MS Analysis of Insecticidal Leaf Essential Oil of Pyrenacantha Staudtii Hutch and Dalz (Icacinaceae)

Abiodun Falodun¹ , R Siraj², Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary²

¹Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City 300001, Nigeria; ²H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Abiodun Falodun Email: faloabi25@yahoo.com Tel:+23408073184488

Received: 20 September 2008 Accepted: 28 December 2008 Published: 17 April 2009

Citation: Falodun A, Siraj R, Choudhary MI. GC-MS Analysis of Insecticidal Leaf Essential Oil of Pyrenacantha Staudtii Hutch and Dalz (Icacinaceae). Trop J Pharm Res 2009; 8(2):139-143 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v8i2.7

© 2009 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: Insecticides have been known to cause serious toxicological and environmental problems. Hence, the insecticidal activity and chemical composition of a local medicinal plant was investigated.

Methods: Steam distillation of P.staudtii leaves was carried out using a Clavenger apparatus in order to obtain the volatile oils. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analyses (DB-5 Optima-5 column) of the essential oil were performed and its insecticidal activity determined.

Results: GC-MS spectrometry showed that the major chemical components of the oil were tetradecanoic acid (22 %), hexanoic acid, α-phellandrene (13 %), and citronellol sp. (7 %). The work also revealed significant insecticidal activity of 80 % and 60 % against Rhyzopertha dominica and Tribolium castaneum, respectively.

Conclusion: The study established the chemical composition and insecticidal activity of the essential oil of the plant leaf. Future formulation studies, toxicity profile and possible mechanism of action may lead to the development of a potential insecticidal product.

Keywords: Pyrenacantha stautii leaf, GC-MS, Leaf essential oils, Insecticidal