The essential oil compositions of two Eucalyptus sp. (E. camaldulensis Dehnh. and E. torquata Luehm.) naturalized to Cyprus

Abstract

ABSTRACT The genus Eucalyptus belonging to the Myrtaceae family, consists of tall, evergreen trees with leathery leaves. They are indigenous to Australia and contain about 900 species and subspecies. One important use is production of essential oils, which are valuable in both medicinal and pharmaceutical industries. There are about 62 species of Eucalyptus naturalized to Cyprus including E. camaldulensis and E. torquata. The essential oil constituents of leaves of these two species of Eucalyptus collected from Northern Cyprus were isolated by hydro-distillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS, simultaneously. E. camaldulensis oil yield was higher (2.4%), and major compounds identified were α-phellandrene (10.3%) and β-phellandrene (30.6%), respectively. These compounds were followed by p-cymene (8.2%), bicyclogermacrene (6.1%) and spathulenol (9.3%). On the other hand, E. torquata oil yield was relatively lower (1.6%), with major compounds being α-pinene (18.6%), 1,8-cineole (18.8%), β-eudesmol (10.3%) and torquatone (29.2%).