Variability of individuals from a population Varronia curassavica Jacq. considering volatile compounds

Abstract

Varronia curassavica is a medicinal species native to Brazil; its anti-inflammatory properties are attributed to α-humulene and β-caryophyllene. This study to investigated the population variability of V. curassavica. Leaves were collected from 40 individuals of a natural population and transferred to glass flasks (2 mL). The volatiles were extracted and analyzed using static headspace gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS). A total of 17 compounds were detected: Monoterpenes (1.6%-68%) and sesquiterpenes (25.7%-79.0%), including α-humulene and β-caryophyllene. Multivariate analysis was performed to estimate the dissimilarity of individuals separated the compounds into four groups. Group I was characterized by the content of α-pinene, groups II and IV by β-caryophyllene, and group III by β-pinene. The abundance of α-humulene showed small variations; while β-caryophyllene showed larger variations that contributed to the population variability. This is the first report on the chemical composition analysis of volatile compounds in V. curassavica using the HS-GC-MS technique.