Chemical compositions and anti-inflammatory activities of essential oils from Aster spathulifolius and Vitex rotundifolia maxim.

The essential oils were prepared from Aster spathulifolius (ASE) and Vitex rotundifolia (VRE) by hydrodistillation and their chemical compositions were investigated by GC–MS. Analysis of ASE provided 15 components and eight of which were identified sesquiterpene compounds. The major components in ASE included germacrene D (35.1 %), trans-caryophyllene (15.9 %) and trans-phytol (14.9 %). On the other hand, VRE provided manoyl oxide (14.3%), α-terpineol (13.1 %) and α-pinene (10.0 %) as major ingredients. To assess the anti-inflammatory effects of the essential oils, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were monitored using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages. In this test, ASE and VRE were appeared to suppress both NO and TNF-α synthesis in dose-dependent manner. The results indicate that VRE and ASE could be useful in cosmetic applications as natural products possessing antiinflammatory efficacy