Essential oil of Croton ovalifolius Vahl from Venezuela.

The essential oil from fresh leaves of Croton ovalifolius Vahl was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Twenty-eight compounds, which represent 90.4% of the total constituents of the oil, were identified. The most abundant constituents were β-caryophyllene (20.8%), bicyclogermacrene (12.1%), germacrene B (10.7%),τ-cadinol (8.1%), spathulenol (6.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (5.2%). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.