The leaf essential oil of Parquetina nigrescens collected from Badary, Nigeria, was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. The essential oil had a simple composition with only five identified components. The oil was dominated by citral (35.0% neral and 53.7% geranial). The high concentration of citral in the essential oil likely contributes to the ethnomedicinal utility and bioactivities associated with this medicinal plant.
(a) IrvineF.R. (1961) Woody Plants of Ghana with Special References to Their Uses.Oxford University Press, London; (b) Agbor AG, Odetola AA. (2001) Hematological studies of Parquetina nigrescens on haemorrhagic anaemic rats. African Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 30, 105–109.
2.
(a) SofowaraA. (1993) Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa.Spectrum Books, Ltd, Ibadan, Nigeria. 289; (b) Iwu MM. (1993) Handbook of African Medicinal Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. 141–142; (c) Akinyemi KO, Oladapo O, Okwara CE, Ibe C, Fasure KA. (2005) Screening of crude extracts of six medicinal plants used in South-West Nigerian unorthodox medicine for anti-methicillin resistant-Staphylococcus aureus activity. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 5, 5–8; (d) Odetola AA, Oluwole FS, Adeniyi BA, Olatiregun AM, Ikupolowo OR, Labode O, Busari KO, Shorinola JA. (2006) Antimicrobial and gastroprotective properties of Parquetina nigrescens (Afzel.) Bullock. Journal of Biological Sciences, 6, 701–705.
3.
(a) GillL.S. (1992) Ethnomedical Uses of Plants in Nigeria.Uniben Press, Benin City. 180–181; (b) Adeyemi SO. (1994) Ethnobotanical study of the antirheumatic plants in part of Oyo, Ogun and Lagos States, Project Report in the Department of Microbiology and Botany, University of Ibadan. 46; (c) Leaman DJ. (1995) Malaria remedies of the Kenyah of Apo Kayan, East Kalimantoon. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 49, 1–16.
4.
AkinyemiO.I., DadaE.O. (2013) Phytochemical screening and antityphoid properties of ethanolic leaf extracts of Parquetina nigrescens. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science Asian Research, 8, 732–739.
5.
(a) OluwafemiF., DebiriF. (2008) Antimicrobial effect of Phyllanthus amarus and Parquetina nigrescens on Salmonella typhi. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 11, 215–219; (b) Maknajuola OY, Dada OE, Akharaiyi FC. (2010) Antibacterial potentials of Parquetina nigrescens extracts on some selected pathogenic bacteria. Journal of Natural Products, 3, 124–129.
6.
AyensuE.S. (1978) Medicinal Plants of West Africa.Reference Publications, Algonac, Michigan, USA.53–54.
7.
DatteJ.Y., ZieglerA., TillementJ.P. (1999) Sympathomimetic effects of Parquetina nigrescens (Periplocaceae) extract in isolated portal vein smooth muscle. General Pharmacology: The Vascular System, 32, 551–556.
8.
OnawunmiG.O., YisakW.A., OgunlanaE.O. (1984) Antibacterial constituents in the essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 12, 279–286.
9.
SouthwellI.A., RussellM., SmithR.L., ArcherD.W. (2000) Backhousia citriodora F. Muell. (Myrtaceae), a superior source of citral. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 12, 735–741.
10.
WangH., LiuY. (2010) Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from different parts of Litsea cubeba. Chemistry & Biodiversity, 7, 229–235.
11.
GanjewalaD., GuptaA.K., MuhuryR. (2012) An update on bioactive potential of a monoterpene aldehyde citral. Journal of Biologically Active Products from Nature, 2, 186–199.
12.
(a) StevensK.L., JurdL., KingA.D., MiharaK. (1971) The antimicrobial activity of citral. Experientia, 27, 600–602; (b) Ekundayo O. (1985) Composition of the leaf volatile of Cymbopogon citratus. Fitoterapia, 56, 339–342; (c) Pattnaik S, Subramanyam VR, Kole C. (1996) Antibacterial and antifungal activity of ten essential oils in vitro. Microbiology, 86, 237–246; (d) Nakahara K, Alzoreky NS, Yoshihashi T, Nguyen HTT, Trakoontivakorn G. (2003) Chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oil from Cymbopogon nardus. Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, 37, 249–252; (e) Setzer WN, Schmidt JM, Eiter LC, Haber WA. (2005) The leaf oil composition of Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) Sarg. from Monteverde, Costa Rica, and its biological activities. Journal of Essential Oil Research, 17, 333–335; (f) Silva CdBD, Guterres SS, Weisheimer V, Schapoval EE. (2008) Antifungal activity of the lemongrass oil and citral against Candida spp. Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, 12, 63–66.
13.
(a) DudaiN., WeinsteinY., KrupM., RabinskiT., OfirR. (2005) Citral is a new inducer of caspase-3 in tumor cell lines. Planta Medica, 71, 484–488; (b) Wright BS, Bansal A, Moriarity DM, Takaku S, Setzer WN. (2007) Cytotoxic leaf essential oils from Neotropical Lauraceae: Synergistic effects of essential oil components. Natural Product Communications, 2, 1241–1244; (c) De Martino L, D'Arena G, Minervini MM, Deaglio S, Fusco BM, Cascavilla N, De Feo V. (2008) Verbena officinalis essential oil and its component citral as apoptotic-inducing agent in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, 22, 1097–1104; (d) Chaouki W, Leger DY, Liagre B, Beneytout JL, Hmamouchi M. (2009) Citral inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in MCF-7 cells. Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology, 23, 549–556.
14.
(a) MachadoM., PiresP., DinisA.M., Santos-RosaM., AlvesV., SalgueiroL., CavaleiroC., SousaM.C. (2012) Monoterpenic aldehydes as potential anti-Leishmania agents: Activity of Cymbopogon citratus and citral on L. infantum, L. tropica and L. major. Experimental Parasitology, 130, 223–231; (b) Monzote L, Alarcón O, Setzer WN. (2012) Antiprotozoal activity of essential oils. Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, 77, 167–175.
15.
(a) HalliwellB. (1999) Antioxidants defense mechanisms: From the beginning to the end. Free Radical Research, 31, 261–272; (b) Rabbani SI, Devi K, Khanam S, Zahra N. (2006) Citral, a component of lemongrass oil inhibits the clastogenic effect of nickel chloride in mouse micronucleus test system. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 19, 108–113.
16.
NajafianM., Ebrahim-HabibiA., YaghmaeiP., ParivarK., LarijaniB. (2011) Citral as a potential antihyperlipidemic medicine in diabetes: A study on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Iranian Journal of Diabetes and Lipid Disorders, 10, 1–8.
17.
RabbaniSI., DeviK. (2006) Anti-mutagenic effect of citral against Mitomycin-C. Journal of Natural Remedies, 6, 77–82.
AdamsR.P. (2007) Identification of Essential Oil Components by Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry, 4th Ed, Allured Publishing Corp, Carol Stream, Illinois, USA.
