Chemical Composition of Essential Oils from Ocimum Kilimandscharicum: A Review.

Abstract

Traditional medicine plays an important role in disease especially in developing countries. The essential oils of Ocimum species showed anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and insecticidal activities. Essential oils from O. kilimandscharicum are widely used in modern perfumery and the pharmaceutical industry. However information about the chemical composition remains scanty. This study reviewed the chemical composition of essential oils the plant. Peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from Scopus, Science Direct, SciFinder and Google Scholar. Fifteen articles reporting on chemical composition of essential oils extracted from O. kilimandscharicum were accessed. The major compounds in the essential oils were identified to be camphor, linalool, limonene, methyl eugenol, 1,8-cineole, camphene, β-caryophyllene and α-terpineol. Camphor was reported to be in the range of 0.1-70.4%, linalool 0.2-58.9 %, limonene 1.2-13.6%, methyl eugenol 0.1-53.9%, β-Caryophyllene 0.2-31.5%, 1,8-cineole 0.6-20.1% and camphene 0.4-13.6%. Results from this study have confirmed that Ocimum kilimandscharicum essential oils contain a wide range of chemical compounds. The type of compounds and the percentage composition of compounds present in the essential oils were differed. Further studies to determine medicinal activities of the compound present in the essential oils both in pure and blended forms are necessary.