Volatile Constituents of Three Myrsine L. Species from Brazil

The chemical compositions of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Myrsine rubra, Myrsine gardneriana and Myrsine parvifolia and the fruits of Myrsine parvifolia were elucidated by a combination of GC and GC-MS analyses. The main constituents of the native M. parvifolia were caryophyllene oxide (14.4%), β-caryophyllene (12.6%) and γ-Muurolene (7.9%) of the leaves oil and β-caryophyllene (11.7%), δ-Cadinene (7.1%) of the fruit oil. The volatile oil of the endemic M. rubra leaves was dominated by β-caryophyllene (17.2%), γ-Muurolene (11.1%), Germacrene B (10.0%). The essential oil of the native M. gardneriana leaves was characterized by β-caryophyllene (18.0%), γ-Muurolene (8.4%). These three Myrsine species are similar in the dominance of sesquiterpenes. By contrast, monoterpenes were found only in the volatile oil from the fruits of M. parvifolia. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report on the volatile constituents of M. rubra, M. gardneriana, M. parvifolia.