CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS OF THE LEAVES OF THREE SPECIES OF Croton FROM VIETNAM

摘要

Croton is a widespread flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. Croton cascarilloides Raeusch. is a shrub that grows to about 1-2 m tall. The leaves are usually densely clustered at the apex of branchlets. C. cascarilloides wood has been used historically to blacken teeth in Asia. Croton species are used to treat dysmenorrhea, gastric ulcers, gastric cancers, and dysentery. Croton chevalieri Beille is a shrub covered with a glabrous gray bark. Croton tonkinensis Gagnep. is a Vietnamese endemic medicinal plant [1]. Several biologically active compounds have been isolated from these plants [2-6]. Literature information is scanty on the volatile oil contents of the three species being considered. We previously published our research findings on essential oil from Vietnam [7].