Essential oil composition of Ficus benjamina (Moraceae) and Irvingia barteri (Irvingiaceae).

Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of leaves of two Nigerian species were analyzed for their constituents by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The leaf oil of Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae), collected during the day, contained high contents of alpha-pinene (13.9%), abietadiene (9.7%), cis-alpha-bisabolene (8.2%) and germacrene-D-4-ol (8.4%), while the night sample was dominated by germacrene-D-4-ol (31.5%), 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (8.8%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8.3%). This could be a possible indication of differences in emissions of volatiles by F. benjamina during the day and night. The main compounds of Irvingia barteri Hook. f. (Irvingiaceae) were beta-caryophyllene (17.0%), (E)-a-ionone (10.0%), geranial (7.6%), (E)-beta-ionone (6.6%) and beta-gurjunene (5.1%).