Chemical Compositions, Mosquito Larvicidal and Antimicrobial Activities of Leaf Essential Oils of Eleven Species of Lauraceae from Vietnam.

The Lauraceae is a family rich in aromatic and medicinal plants. Likewise, essential oils derived from members of this family have demonstrated a myriad of biological activities. It is hypothesized that members of the Lauraceae from Vietnam will yield essential oils that may be useful in controlling mosquito populations and treating microbial infections. In this work, the leaf essential oils of eleven species of Lauraceae (, , , , , , , , , , and ) have been obtained by hydrodistillation and the chemical compositions analyzed by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The essential oils were screened for larvicidal activity against , , and , and for antimicrobial activity against , , , , , , and . The leaf essential oil of , rich in ()-β-ocimene (87.6%), showed excellent larvicidal activity against with a 24 h LC of 6.59 μg/mL. The leaf essential oil of , dominated by germacrene D (55.5%) and bicyclogermacrene (11.4%), exhibited remarkable larvicidal activity against (48 h LC = 0.40 μg/mL). leaf essential oil also demonstrated notable antibacterial activity against and with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 16 μg/mL, while the leaf essential oil of showed excellent anticandidal with an MIC of 16 μg/mL. Leaf essential oils from the Lauraceae should be considered for utilization as alternative agents for controlling mosquito populations and as antimicrobial agents.