The hydrodistillation of fresh leaves of S. terebinthifolius
collected from Harare, Zimbabwe, produced 0.65% oil
(v/w). This yield is higher compared to those we have
obtained from other plants such as Rhus lancea (0.18%)
or Eriosema englerianum (0.28%) (Gundidza et al., 2008;
Mmbengwa et al., 2009). However, this yield was far
much lower compared to that obtained by Barbosa et al.
(2007) from S. terebinthifolius fruits collected from Minas
Gerais state, in Brazil. These authors described essential
oil yield of 4.65% w/w after 3 h of extraction, in relation to
just dry fruit weight. The differences in the oil yield could
be due to the geographical difference as well as the
differences that may exist in the soil types between
Zimbabwe where the plant is non native and in Brazil
where the plant is native. The possible difference in the
climatic conditions could also explain the differences.