ABSTRACT
The erva-baleeira (Varronia curassavica Jacq.) is an important medicinal plant which occurs in several Brazilian biomes, from which it is possible to extract essential oil used in the production of herbal medicines. The objective of this study was to observe the effect of the collection schedule for the leaves on the content and the chemical constituents of the essential oil of V. curassavica. The leaves were obtained from the germplasm collection of the Medicinal Garden of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (ICA/UFMG). The treatments consisted of five collection schedules (6:00 and 9:00 AM, and 12:00, 3:00, and 6:00 PM) and three replications, using a completely randomized design. The essential oil was extracted by the hydrodistillation method, using the Clevenger system, and the chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The harvest time did not influence the content of the essential oil. However, the collection schedule did influence the chemical composition of the essential oil of erva-baleeira. The major compounds at all collection times were β-caryophyllene (22.6 to 27.4%), xylene (14.9 to 17.2%) and γ-muurolene (9.1 to 9.8%). The compound of lowest relative abundance, sabinene (1.1%), was found only at 6 AM.
Keywords
medicinal plant; chemical characterization; monoterpenes; β-caryophyllene; α-humulene
