Biological studies of terpenoids and chemical transformations extracted from essential oil of Cyperus scariosus

Abstract

Cyperus scariosus is a potential medicinal herb belonging to the family Cyperaceae. The GC-MS analysis of the oil showed cyprene (16.21%) as the major terpene present in it. Cyprene was isolated from the non-polar fraction of the oil using hexane as solvent and characterized using TLC and spectral techniques (IR and 1H NMR). Cyprene was derivatized to cyprene epoxide by two methods i.e. using perbenzoic acid and epichlorohydrin. Further, the oil, it's polar fraction (dichloromethane), non-polar fraction (hexane), cyprene and cyprene epoxide were screened for their plant growth regulating property in case of wheat seedlings (HD 2900 and PBW 601). Complete germination was observed above 2.5 µg/mL of all the test fractions in both the cultivars. Moreover, cyprene epoxide was found to be the most effective in enhancing the length of roots and shoots. Seedling vigour index was calculated in order to analyze the enhancement shown by the oil and its various components on the seedlings.