Chemical characterization of the volatile compounds of the flowers of Bidens segetum Martius ex Colla (Asteraceae)

Abstract

The volatile compounds present in the volatile oils and aroma from fresh flowers of Bidens segetum Martius ex Colla were characterized. The samples were collected from naturally occurring populations of the Brazilian Cerrado and from plants cultivated at the Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo (Atlantic rainforest) from its seeds. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger apparatus, while the aroma was extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and both were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). β-Phellandrene (18–45%) and germacrene D (6–32%) were always present in the oils and aroma; however, their percentages varied. Besides these, E-β-ocimene (11.6%), myrcene (11.2%), α-pinene (7.3%), sabinene (6.7%), bicyclogermacrene (5.7%) and δ-cadinene (3.2%) appeared as major constituents of the volatile components from B. segetum flowers.

Keywords:

• Bidens
• essential oil
• aroma
• HS-SPME
• chemical composition
• germacrene D
• β-phellandrene

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the CAPES for the grants awarded and we are also indebted to Dr. Inês Cordeiro from the Núcleo de Pesquisa, Curadoria do Herbário de São Paulo, Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo, SP, Brasil, for the help in plant identification.