Abstract
The chemical composition of the volatile compounds isolated by simultaneous distillation–extraction with diethyl ether from red flowers of red copihue (Lapageria rosea) growing in Chile was investigated by gas chromatography/flame ionization detector (GC/FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Twenty-nine components were identified in the volatile oil (100% of the total volatile composition). Limonene was the major component of the flower scent (29%), with lesser amounts of many saturated, unsaturated and aromatic aldehydes, which represented nearly 42% of the total composition.