Résumé
In a search for new plant-derived biologically active compounds against malaria parasites, five essential oils extracted from the Cameroonian plants
Xylopia phloiodora, Pachypodanthium confine,
Antidesma laciniatum, Xylopia aethiopica, and
Hexalobus crispiflorus were evaluated in regard to their anti-plasmodial activity against the W2 strain of
Plasmodium falciparum. The oils were obtained from the plants with 0.12, 0.13, 0.18, 0.6 and 0.1% yields (relatively to dried material weight) respectively. Analysis by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry identified mainly terpenoids, among which α-copaene, γ-cadinene, δ-cadinene , α-cadinol, spathulenol and caryophyllene oxide were most commonly found. The five oils were active against
Plasmodium falciparum in culture. The most effective was the oil of
Hexalobus crispiflorus, with an IC
50 of 2 μg/ml.
The anti-plasmodial activity of artemisinin suggests that other potent sesquiterpenes can be found in essential oils.