Chemical Composition, Antiradical and Antifungal Activities of Essential Oil of the Leaves of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Blume from Cameroon

The aim of the present study was to investigate the essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum from Cameroon for its chemical composition, antiradical and antifungal activities against some common fungi causing spoilage of stored food product. The essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation of fresh leaves, was analysed by GC and GC/MS. The oil contains 11 components among which eugenol (89.1%), linalool (4.3%), benzoate benzyl (3.1%) and cinnamaldehyde (1.5%) were the main components. Determination of antiradical activity of the oil was studied by the DPPH (diphenyl picryl hydrazyl) method. The antiradical activity of Cinnamomum essential oil (SC50 = 4.5 mg/L) was higher than that of butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), which was used as the reference compound (SC50 = 7 mg/L). The growth inhibitory effect of C. zeylanicumn essential oil on Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium moniliforme was determined on potato dextrose agar. After 9 days of incubation on essential oil-supplemented medium, the growth of A. flavus and Fusarium was totally inhibited by 500 ppm of Cinnamommum zeylanicum oil. Results obtained in the present study indicate the possibility of exploiting C. zeylanicum essential oil to prevent diseases such as diabetes and cancer, to slow down ageing, and also to combat strains of A. flavus and Fusarium moniliforme responsible for biodeterioration of stored food products.