Chemical Composition and antioxidant activity of Essential Oil from Schinus terebinthifolius and Siparuna guianensis Leaves

Abstract

The present work aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of the essential oils of two species found in the Cerrado of Tocantins State, Brazil. The essential oil of Schinus terebinthifolius (aroeira) and Siparuna guianensis (negramina) were obtained from the leaves by hydrodistillation, using the Clevenger apparatus, with a yield of 0.16% v/w and 0.20% v/w, respectively. Sixteen and twenty constituents were identified by gas-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the essential oils from S. terebinthifolius and S. guianensis, respectively, most of them being monoterpenes in both essential oils. The main volatile constituent of S. terebinthifolius essential oil was identified as D-limonene with 12.09%, while for S. guianensis, β-myrcene was identified as the major constituent, with 79.47%. The antioxidant activity was determined using the DPPH method in thin layer chromatography, and both essential oils were active. However, the allelopathic activity using lettuce seeds was not evidenced for both essential oils.