Essential Oil Compositions and Bioactivities of the Various Parts of Cinnamomum camphora Sieb. var. linaloolifera Fujuta

In this study, we used hydrodistillation and headspace GC methods to separate essential oils from the leaves, flowers and twigs of a “linalool tree” (Cinnamomum camphora Sieb. var. linaloolifera Fujuta) and establish their yields and compositions. Furthermore, the antioxidative and antifungal activities of the oils were evaluated. A total of 68, 77 and 83 compounds were identified respectively from the leaf, flower and twig oils of the tree by the hydrodistillation method, and their yields were 3.94 ± 0.06, 2.77 ± 0.12 and 0.59 ± 0.04 ml/100 g of the oven-dried (o.d.) materials, respectively. The headspace-gas chromatography (HS-GC) method, on the other hand, generated 49, 59 and 65 identified compounds respectively from the leaves, flowers, and twigs of the tree. Essential oil yields were determined using the multiple headspace extraction (MHE) method and found to be 3.93 ± 0.11, 2.72 ± 0.10 and 0.61 ± 0.03 ml/100 g of o.d. materials for the leaves, flowers and twigs, respectively. The main compounds based on the 2 methods were similar and those in the leaves and flowers were linalool, and in twigs were linalool, camphor etc. Twig oils showed the highest antioxidant activity, with an IC50 of merely 104 μg/ml. As for the antifungal activities, the leaf oil showed the best activity. All 3 oils had excellent capability in suppression wood decaying fungi. Therefore, in addition to being raw materials for producing high-grade fragrance agents, these oils are also applicable to the antioxidant and antifungal purposes and exhibit the multipurpose potential of expanded essential oil applications.