Composition of the Floral Essential Oil of Brugmansia suaveolens

The floral essential oils of Brugmansia suaveolens, from Monteverde , Costa Rica , were collected at three different times of the day by hydrodistillation and the oils analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The floral essential oil showed a dramatic change in composition between the freshly opened night (white) blossoms and the rose-colored senescent blossoms the following day. The white blossoms were dominated by 1,8-cineole (72.1%), (E)-nerolidol (11.7%), a -terpineol (5.3%), and phenethyl alcohol (3.2%), notably different from headspace analyses of B. suaveolensreported previously. The floral essential oil from “rose-colored” senescent blossoms of B. suaveolens showed dramatic decreases in 1,8-cineole (2.0%), (E)-nerolidol (1.9%), and phenethyl alcohol (not detected), with concomitant increases in heptanal (10.2%), nonanal (17.4%), terpinen-4-ol (10.5%), and megastigmatrienones (35.5%).