Abstract

STEFANELLO, Maria Élida Alves; CERVI, Armando Carlos; WISNIEWSKI JR, Alberto  and  SIMIONATTO, Edésio Luiz. Composition and seasonal variation of essential oils of Myrcia obtecta (O. Berg) Kiaersk. var. obtecta, Myrtaceae. Rev. bras. farmacogn. [online]. 2010, vol.20, n.1, pp. 82-86. ISSN 0102-695X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-695X2010000100017.

The essential oils isolated by hydrodistillation from leaves and flowers of Myrcia obtecta (O. Berg) Kiaersk. var. obtecta, Myrtaceae, collected bimonthly in Curitiba, Paraná state, Brazil, from October/2005 to August/2006 were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. Fifty-five components were identified in the leaf oils, which were characterized by predominance of cyclic sesquiterpenes (around 70%) and variable amounts of monoterpenes (5.616.7%), aliphatic compounds (0.4-5.5%) and methyl salicylate (0.1-1.5%). The major component in all samples was trans-calamenene (17.0-29.3%). The composition did not show significant seasonal variation, except in October (flowering) when α-terpineol and trans-calamenene peaked (11.2% and 29.3%, respectively). The flower oil was characterized by high content of methyl salicylate (89%).

Keywords : Myrcia obtecta; Myrtaceae; essential oil; seazonal variation; trans-calamenene; methyl salicylate.