CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYTICAL REPRODUCIBILITY OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL FROM THE TRUNK BARK OF IRVINGIA GABONENSIS (AUBRY-LECOMPTE EX O'RORKE) BAILL. FROM CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Irvingia gabonensis is a fruit tree native to West Africa. In Côte d'Ivoire, its trunk bark, leaves, and seeds are commonly used in traditional medicine and as food. While the fatty acid composition of the kernel has been studied extensively, the essential oil extracted from the trunk bark remains poorly documented.
This study had two objectives: to characterize the chemical composition of this essential oil and to verify the reproducibility of the measurements. The oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The concentrations are expressed as mean ± standard deviation over several analytical replicates.
Ten compounds were identified, representing 100.0% of the quantified constituents. The profile is dominated by hydrocarbon monoterpenes (94.7%). Sabinene is by far the most abundant (65.2 ± 1.26%), followed by p-cymene (8.7 ± 0.34%), γ-terpinene (7.8 ± 0.23%), and then α-pinene and α-terpinene (4.3% each). Oxygenated monoterpenes (4-carvomenthenol, 2.0%) and hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes (β-bisabolene, 3.3%) are present in smaller quantities. No oxygenated sesquiterpenes were detected.
Standard deviations are low from one replicate to the next: the measurements show little dispersion under the experimental conditions used. A compound that alone exceeds 65% of the total suggests a sabinene a sabinene-dominant chemical profile for this bark, a profile comparable to those described in other West African organs and species rich in monoterpenes.
These results provide an initial reference characterization of the essential oil from the bark of I. gabonensis from Côte d’Ivoire. They pave the way for broader studies on intraspecific variability: organs, localities, seasons.