Chemical profiling and spectroscopic studies of leaf volatile oil of Eucalyptus globulus from Botswana isolated by conventional hydrodistillation and ultrasound assisted hydrodistillation.

Environmental factors have an influence on the chemistry and percentage recovery of volatile oils. Therefore, the chemical composition of Eucalyptus globulus (E. globulus) volatile oil from Botswana was determined. The volatile oil was isolated from the leaves of E. globulus plant by means of the conventional hydrodistillation and ultrasound assisted hydrodistillation at 50 W and 300 W. The extraction method that gave a better recovery of the volatile oil was ultrasound assisted hydrodistillation at 300 W with a yield of 2.50%. The volatile oil obtained by hydrodistillation and ultrasound assisted hydrodistillation at 50 W had comparable recovery yields of 2.24% and 2.20% respectively. Eucalyptol was identified as the major component in the oil. The amount of eucalyptol present in E. globulus volatile oil extracted by ultrasound assisted hydrodistillation (65%) show that the oil has a potential to be explored for therapeutic purposes.