The Essential Oils-bearing Plant Containing Eugenol in Vietnam

Aim and Objectives: Eugenol is widely used in the pharmaceutical and aromatic industries, so the task of surveying to find essential oils containing eugenol is very important. The purpose of this study is to investigate essential oil-bearing plants containing eugenol in Vietnam for pharmaceutical and aromatic industries.

Materials and Methods: By the method of fresh sampling of essential oil plants, essential oils are extracted by steam distillation and then analyzed by high-resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) to identify eugenol sources.

Results: We have found that a lot of plants containing high eugenol content mostly grow wild in forests such as Hiptis suaveolens Poit. containing 62-67% eugenol, Cinnamomum verum Prest: 75-80%, Camellia sasanqua Thumb.: 90-95% can be used to exploit essential oils and extract eugenol. We also pointed out that essential oil plants containing high eugenol as Cestrum nocturnum L.: 50-55%, Ocimum sanctum L.: 60-65%, Ocimum gratissimum L.: 65-75% can be cultivated to obtain eugenol for the pharmaceutical and aromatic industry.

Conclusions: During the survey, we discovered and made a list of 10 plants as a source of essential oils containing eugenol in Vietnam. The rainy season in Vietnam is from June to September. During this season, the essential oil content in the fresh leaves is lower than in the dry season, therefore, the eugenol content in the essential oils is low. However, due to the strong-growth of plants in the rainy season, a lot of fresh leaves can be harvested, which mean there are more essential oils presented to be extracted.