The chemical composition of the essential oils from leaves and wood of Ocotea brenesii Standl. growing wild in Costa Rica was determined by capillary GC/FID and GC/MS. From the leaves, 64 compounds were identified, corresponding to 85.9% of the oil, and from the wood 57 compounds were identified corresponding to 69.0% of the oil. The major constituents identified in the leaf oil were alpha-copa...

Polymers with their myriad functions are indispensable to any modern technology. Today, their production is largely based on fossil fuels. In view of their limited range, other sources are desirable on the long term. Beyond such considerations, renewable resources are also attractive as they can contain unique chemical structures. Thus, carbohydrates, fatty acids or terpenes contain a wealth of...

Maize (Zea mays) emits volatile terpenes in response to insect feeding and egg deposition to defend itself against harmful pests. However, maize cultivars differ strongly in their ability to produce the defense signal. To further understand the agroecological role and underlying genetic mechanisms for variation in terpene emission among maize cultivars, we studied the production of an important...

The essential oils of the leaves and fine stems of Pilocarpus microphyllus, collected on iron mineralized soil of the Serra de Caraj s, Southeast of Par State, Brazil, during the rainy and dry seasons, were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. The main identified compounds were 2-tridecanone, beta-caryophyllene, 2-pentadecanone, caryophyllene oxide and germacrene D. Their perce...

The aim of this study was to perform chemical characterization of Lippia alba accessions from the Active Germplasm Bank of the Federal University of Sergipe. A randomized block experimental design with two replications was applied. The analysis of the chemical composition of the essential oils was conducted using a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer. The chemical composition of th...

The fresh leaves and brine of leaves of Thymbra spicata var. spicata (KARAKIZ) were analyzed by hydrodistillation, headspace and GC/MS techniques. The main components were determined as carvacrol, p-cymene, beta-myrcene, gamma-terpinene, a-terpinene and trans-caryophyllene. The essential oil and the main compounds, carvacrol and trans-caryophyllene, have been tested against E. coli, S. epidermi...

Composition of the essential oil obtained from dried flowering aerial parts of Teucrium scordium L. (Labiatae) was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Fifty-six components were identified in the essential oil of T. scordium. The major constituents of the oil were beta-caryophyllene (22.8%), (E)-beta-farnesene (10.4%), caryophyllene oxide (8.6%), 1,8-cineole (6.1%) and beta-eudesmol (5.1%).

Spiranthera odoratissima A. St. Hil. (manacá) is used in folk medicine to treat renal and hepatic diseases, stomachache, headaches and rheumatism. A central nervous system (CNS) depressant effect of the hexane fraction from the ethanolic extract of this plant has been described. β-caryophyllene, the main component of this essential oil, is a sesquiterpene compound with anti-inflammatory propert...

Fresh leaves of Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C. B. Rob. from Ha Tinh were steam distilled to produce an oil in 0.15% yield. The essential oil was analysis by a combination of capillary GC and GC/MS. Seventy eight compounds were detected in the oil, of which more than 95.18% were terpenoids. The major components were (E)-β-ocimene (13.35%), β-caryophyllene (27.20%) and bicyclogermacrene (18.16%). Ke...