Aromatic Plants from Brazil. II. The Chemical Composition of SomeEugeniaEssential Oils

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Abstract
Essential oils were obtained from the leaves of six Eugenia species collected from different areas of Brazil and were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Forty-four compounds representing 89.6–95.7% of the oils were identified. Only Eugenia schuechiana and E. plicato-costata showed considerable amounts of monoterpenes: among them, α-pinene was the most abundant (13.2 and 20.9%). In all analyzed samples, bicyclic sesquiterpenes were present, particularly the selinene group (41%) in E. uniflora; another group of hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes, this time with the aromadendrene nucleus, was found in all samples in different amounts. The oils of E. rostrifolia and E. involucrata were found to be especially rich in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (77.7% and 84.4%), with considerable amounts of viridiflorene (>30%); β-caryophyllene and its oxide are the main components of the essential oil of E. schuechiana and E. plicato-costata (31.9% and 26.9%), while E. uniflora and E. tinguyensis were characterized by a high percentage of nerolidol (25.2% and 13.1%).