Intraspecific volatile oil variation in Myrceugenia cucullata (Myrtaceae)

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Abstract

The analysis of volatile oil content of Myrceugenia cucullata, a treelet from southern Brazilian montane forests, was investigated. Two markedly distinct chemotypes were identified. One of them is dominated by (E)-nerolidol and the other by (−)-α- and (−)-β-pinenes. Field observations showed a distinct ecological behaviour of plants with distinct chemical compositions, and a closer morphological analysis hints to a possible separation of them. The diverse oil composition is discussed and the possibility of specific segregation of the chemotypes is commented.

Introduction

Myrceugenia (Myrtaceae) comprises about 40 species distributed in two disjunct dispersal centres, a western one in Chile and an eastern one mainly in southern Brazil. Landrum (1981) published a comprehensive revision of the genus, with some later additions (Landrum, 1984). After his efforts, the systematics of the genus was greatly depurated and species identification made easier. Nevertheless, some minor nomenclatural questions remained.

In this way, this paper presents the results of the survey of the chemical profiles of southern Brazilian Myrceugenia cucullata D. Legrand, which presented two distinct, constant and non-overlapping chemical profiles even in individuals collected simultaneously at the same locality. One chemical profile is characterized by the presence of (E)-nerolidol while in the other this compound was absent. The second profile is dominated by (−)-α- and (−)-β-pinenes (ranging 40–50%). This result led us to examine more closely the morphology of these populations and verify that these distinct profiles match two groups that can be morphologically as well as ecologically distinguished. This fact may eventually point to the possibility of segregation of this species, in order to replace one of this group in a distinct species.

Section snippets

Plant material

Samples of Myrceugenia were collected in altitudinal humid araucaria forests at about 1000 m above sea level in the northeastern highlands of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, about 29°05′S and 50°15′W. For the purposes of this paper, we have named chemotypes as M. cucullata 1 and M. cucullata 2. Voucher specimens were deposited at the ICN herbarium (M. cucullata 1: Sobral 8351, 9199; M. cucullata 2: Sobral 8364, 8887, 9200). Acronyms of herbaria are cited according to Holmgren et al. (1990).

Chemistry

The oil yields of M. cucullata and the collection dates are presented in Table 1. The greatest oil content for both species was obtained in January, being 0.4% for M. cucullata 1 and 0.7% for M. cucullata 2. Forty-five constituents were identified accounting for 96.7–99.5% of the total oil content. The relative amounts of each component and classes of compounds are presented in Table 2.

The essential oil from M. cucullata 1 was characterized by more than 90% of the acyclic sesquiterpene (E

Discussion

Landrum (1981) took the name M. cucullata D. Legrand for the species treated here, including in its synonymy Myrceugenia mesomischa (Burret) D. Legrand et Kausel, a species considered distinct in a former treatment of Myrceugenia (Legrand, 1957). The name Luma mesomischa (Burret, 1941) is anterior to that of Legrand (1957) and should prevail were it not for the fact that Landrum was unable to find any type material of L. mesomischa, once the only one cited type of it was destroyed in World War

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Brazilian financial agencies: CNPq, CAPES and FAPERGS.

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