Phytochemical investigation of the essential oil from the ‘resurrection plant’ Myrothamnus moschatus (Baillon) Niedenzu endemic to Madagascar

Abstract

The composition of the essential oil hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of the ‘resurrection plant’ Myrothamnus moschatus (Baillon) Niedenzu endemic to Madagascar was investigated for the first time by gas chromatography (GC/flame ionization detector and GC/mass spectrometry). Forty components were identified in the oil, representing 98.2–98.6% of the total composition. The oil composition was dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (73.5–75.0%), with trans-pinocarveol (35.6–36.3%) and pinocarvone (19.8–20.0%) as the most representative. Other components occurring in significant amounts were β-selinene (8.5%) and perillyl acetate (6.0–12.7%). No significant differences were detected in the major volatiles between the two different biological forms (flowering period and dry season) in which the plant naturally occurs.

Keywords:

• Myrothamnus moschatus
• Myrothamnaceae
• essential oil composition
• GC/FID and GC/MS
• trans-pinocarveol
• pinocarvone
• α-pinene

Notes

ANotes: R ², linear regression coefficient.

bSlope obtained of the straight regression line in equation of the curve for each reference standard compounds.

cResponse factor (RF) for a volatile class as the mean of the slopes in the regression lines of representative compounds belonging to that class.

ANotes: Compounds belonging to each class are listed in order of their elution from a HP-5 column.

bRelative response factor of FID detector.

cRetention index on HP-5 column, experimentally determined using homologous series of C₈–C₃₀ alkanes.

dRelative retention index taken from Adams (10) and/or NIST 08 (11) for DB-5 and HP-5 capillary column, respectively.

eIdentification methods: std, based on co-injection with authentic standards; MS, based on comparison with WILEY, ADAMS and NIST 08 MS database; RI, based on comparison of RI with those reported in ADAMS and NIST 08.

fRelative standard deviation.

gtr, traces (mean value below 0.1%).

hRetention index and MS taken from NIST 08, Brophy et al. (12) and Silva et al. (16).