Composition and antifungal activities of the leaf essential oil of Litsea coreana from Taiwan

The hydrodistillated leaf essential oil of Litsea coreana was analyzed to determine its composition and yield. Fifty-two compounds were identified, the main components being n-decanal (27.5%), 2e,6e-farnesol (25.8%), -eudesmol (10.3%), ethyl n-dodecanoate (8.0%) and τ-cadinol (6.6%) were the major compounds. Oxygenated sesquiterpenes (56.8%) and non-terpenoids (37.0%) were the predominant groups of compounds. The leaf oil exhibited excellent antifungal and anti-wood-decay fungal activities.