RESUMO
Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of leaves of two Nigerian species were analyzed for their constituents by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The leaf oil of Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae), collected during the day, contained high contents of alpha-pinene (13.9%), abietadiene (9.7%), cis-alpha-bisabolene (8.2%) and germacrene-D-4-ol (8.4%), while the night sample was dominated by germacrene-D-4-ol (31.5%), 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (8.8%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8.3%). This could be a possible indication of differences in emissions of volatiles by F. benjamina during the day and night. The main compounds of Irvingia barteri Hook. f. (Irvingiaceae) were beta-caryophyllene (17.0%), (E)-a-ionone (10.0%), geranial (7.6%), (E)-beta-ionone (6.6%) and beta-gurjunene (5.1%).
