Effect of Collection Time on Essential Oil Composition of Lantana camara Linn (Verbenaceae) Growing in Brazil Northeastern

To verify the composition variation of its essential oil along 24 hours, leaves of Lantana camara  Linn. of medicinal plant collection of the Department of Chemical Biology of URCA-Crato–CE, were collected every three hours during one day (of the 07:00 to 19:00 h) in April, 2008. The leaves had its oil extracted by hydro-distillation in Clevenger apparatus during three hours with two repetitions. The chemical composition analysis of the extracted essential oils was carried out in gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The phytochemical profile of the essential oils presented significant difference in function of the harvest. The seven most abundant were: germacrene D (24.50-6.15%), biciclogermacrene (33.32-14.27%), spathulenol (25.04-1.06%), eremophilene (20.64-1.93%), valecene (33.70-0.84%), viridiflorene (19.46%) and 1,10-di-epi-cubenol (27.93-21.32). The different result found here indicates the existence of different chemotypes of L. camara