Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of the essential oils of Cordia leucomalloides and Cordia curassavica from the Northeast of Brazil

• Published in: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 1027 - 1030
• Main Authors: Santos, Renata P., Nunes, Edson P., Nascimento, Ronaldo F., Santiago, Gilvandete Maria P., Menezes, Gustavo Henrique A., Silveira, Edilberto R., Pessoa, Otília Deusdênia L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 01-10-2006
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; Cordia curassavica; larvicidal activity; terpenoids; essential oil; Cordia leucomalloides
• ISSN: 0103-5053; 1678-4790
• DOI: 10.1590/S0103-50532006000500030

The essential oils obtained from the leaves of Cordia leucomalloides and Cordia curassavica were obtained by hydrodistillation and their chemical compositions determined by a combination of GC-MS and GC-FID. Twenty-three components were tentatively identified in both oils representing 98.6 and 91.2% of the volatile content. The oil of C. leucomalloides was characterized by a large percentage of sesquiterpenes (90.6%), being delta-cadinene (17.4%), (E)-caryophyllene (15.7%), bicyclogermacrene (12.5%) and germacrene D (11.2%) the major ones. On the other hand, the oil of C. curassavica showed similar proportions of monoterpenes (47.3%) and sesquiterpenes (43.9%) among which a- pinene (20.5%), beta-pinene (13.1%), (E)-caryophyllene (12.4%) and bicyclogermacrene (13.8%) were the predominant compounds. The larvicidal potential of the two oils were evaluated against the third-instar of Aedes aegypti larvae. The results showed that both oils exhibited significant activity, particularly the oil of C. leucomalloides which was able to kill 98.7% of the larvae in the concentration of 100 ppm.