Composition and characterization by GC-MS of the essential oil extracted from <em>Nicotiana glauca</em> Graham

Fresh leaves of N. glauca were collected from the northern region of Tunisia. The leaves were submitted to water distillation for 4 h, using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The obtained essential oils were dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate and after filtration, stored at 4 °C until use. The chemical composition of the isolated essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Eighteen compounds were identified: eugenol, the major compound in the essential oil, was present at a high level (58.49%), followed by nonadecane, eugenyl acetate and tridecane, 3-methyl at 6.38; 5.57 and 5.19%, respectively. The percentage of compounds dodecane, 2, 6, 11 trimethyl, tetradecane, docosane, tricosane and 1, 2-benzene dicarboxilic, dibutyl ester varied between 1 and 2%; whereas the other compounds (including limonene, and saturated hydrocarbons) remained at low percentages, not exceeding 1%. This study could be very useful for the characterization, pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications of the essential oil from N. glauca.