Chemical composition of essential oils of the tree Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtaceae) cultivated in Costa Rica

Introduction: Melaleuca is a Myrtaceous genus of flowering plants about 290 species, distributed throughout Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Caledonia. Objective: To identify the chemical composition essential oils from leaves, twigs fruits M. quinquenervia cultivated as ornamental in Costa Rica. Methods: The were obtained through steam distillation process Clevenger type apparatus. was done by GC-FID GC-MS, using retention indices on DB-5 capillary column addition to mass spectral fragmentation patterns. Results: consisted mainly terpenoids (88,2-96,6%). A total 88 compounds identified, accounting for 93.1-97.0% amount oils. major constituents leaf oil 1,8-cineole (31,5%), viridiflorol (21,7%), α-pinene (17,9%). fruit (42,1%), (15,0%), limonene (6,4%), α-humulene (4,7%), β-caryophyllene (3,9%), (3,4%). components (66,0%), 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (4,0%). Conclusion: introduced Rica belong chemotype II whose contain viridiflorol, it suggest that original brought southern Queensland or northern South Wales (Australia)