Chemistry and Bioactivity of Essential Oils: Literature Survey and from Vietnam.

Using essential oils to control vectors, intermediate hosts, and disease-causing microorganisms is a promising approach. The genus in the family Euphorbiaceae is a large genus, with many species containing large amounts of essential oils, however, essential oil studies are limited in terms of the number of species investigated. In this work, the aerial parts of growing wild in Vietnam were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of 141 compounds were identified in essential oil, in which sesquiterpenoids dominated, comprising 95.4%, including the main components β-caryophyllene (32.8%), germacrene D (11.6%), β-elemene (9.1%), α-humulene (8.5%), and caryophyllene oxide (5.0%). The essential oil of showed very strong biological activities against the larvae of four mosquito species with 24 h LC values in the range of 15.38-78.27 μg/mL, against adults with a 48 h LC value of 10.09 μg/mL, and against ATCC microorganisms with MIC values in the range of 8-16 μg/mL. In order to provide a comparison with previous works, a literature survey on the chemical composition, mosquito larvicidal, molluscicidal, antiparasitic, and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of species was conducted. Seventy-two references (seventy articles and one book) out of a total of two hundred and forty-four references related to the chemical composition and bioactivity of essential oils of species were used for this paper. The essential oils of some species were characterized by their phenylpropanoid compounds. The experimental results of this research and the survey of the literature showed that essential oils have the potential to be used to control mosquito-borne and mollusk-borne diseases, as well as microbial infections. Research on unstudied species is needed to search for species with high essential oil contents and excellent biological activities.