Bioactivities of essential oil from Colombian Croton trinitatis Millsp

Abstract

Essential oils are being studied because bioactive properties, which vary according to their chemical composition. The objectives of this work were to study the volatile chemical composition of essential oil (EO) from Croton trinitatis Millsp (Euphorbiaceae), obtained from plants collected in Maria la Baja (Bolívar). Also, evaluate their antioxidant and repellent properties. EOs were isolated by hydrodistillation technique and identified by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometric detector (GC-MS). The major compounds found in C. trinitatis were sesquiterpens: Caryophyllene (15,3%), dihydrocurcumene (14,5%), cis and trans calamenene (4.0 y 13.7.0%, respectively), γ-cadina-1,4-diene (7.4%), alaskene /6.4%), gerrmacrene A (5.8%), bicyclogermacrene (5.3%); and monoterpens as fenchone (4.4%) and eucalyptol (1,8-cineol) (2.4%). The antioxidant activity of the EOs were determined using the method of DPPH radical. The percentage of inhibition of DPPH from C. trinitatis was 92.2% compared with ascorbic acid (96,4%). The EO from Turbaco had the highest repellent activity against Tribolium castaneum, at a concentration of 0.2 uL/cm2 at 2 and 4 hours of exposure (86.0 and 92.0%, respectively).