Essential Oil Composition and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activity of Magnolia alba (Magnoliaceae) Leaves from Malaysia

This study aims to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oil of Magnolia alba from Malaysia as well as acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. The hydrodistillation process was used to produce the essential oil, and gas chromatography (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to analyse it. In total, 20 chemical components were identified in the leaf oil, accounting for 99.4%. The major components of the essential oil were linalool (65.4%), β-caryophyllene (6.7%), (E)-nerolidol (5.2%), and β-elemene (4.4%). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity was evaluated using the Ellman method, respectively, in which the essential oil showed moderate inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (I%: 73.5%). Thus, the findings may be helpful for identifying the medicinal and therapeutic uses of the essential oil from the Magnolia genus.