FLAVOUR AND FRAGRANCE JOURNAL Flavour Fragr. J. 2003; 18: 144 –147 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/ffj.1122 Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Essential oils of six Gomidesia spp. from southern Brazil Essential Oils of Gomidesia spp. Renata P. Limberger, 1 Cláudia A. Simões-Pires, 1 Marcos Sobral, 1 Chantal Menut, 2 Jean-Marie Bessiere, 2 and Amélia T. Henriques 1 * 1 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90.610-000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil 2 Laboratoire de Chimie Organique-Physique, Université de Montpellier II, France Received 31 July 2001 Revised 11 February 2002 Accepted 12 February 2002 ABSTRACT: Essential oils from Gomidesia schaueriana, G. sellowiana, G. spectabilis, G. anacardiifolia, G. palustris and G. tijucensis, collected in Southern Brazil, were analysed by GC and GC–MS. Fifty-two compounds were identified, representing 92–98% of the oil contents. All samples were rich in cyclic sesquiterpenes (about 90%), mainly those from the cadinene and germacrene cyclization pathway. The oils from G. schaueriana, G. spectabilis, G. anacardiifolia and G. palustris were quite similar, with a predominance of β-caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicy- clogermacrene, spathulenol, globulol and α-cadinol. G. sellowiana was rich in spathulenol, followed by geranylge- raniol, and G. tijucensis was characterized by the presence of α- and β-selinene. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS: Gomidesia; Myrtaceae; essential oil composition Introduction The Myrtaceae is a family with ca. 100 genera and 3000 species of trees and treelets, widespread in the tropical and subtropical areas. 1 Many species of this family are used in folk medicine and appreciated for their edible fruits, such as Eugenia uniflora (vernacular name, Surinam cherry), Eugenia involucrata (vernacular name, cherry tree), Plinia trunciflora (vernacular name, jaboticaba), Psidium guajava (vernacular name, guava) and Psidium cattleyanum (vernacular name, araça). Generally, Myrtaceae leaves are used in folk medi- cine as diuretics, antirrheumatics and, specially, as antidiarrhoeics. 2 Gomidesia is a Myrtaceae genus that comprises about 40 species 3 distributed in southern South America, mainly in Brazil. This genus is characterized by the singular mor- phology of the anthers, with pollen sacs opening at two slightly distinct levels. 3–5 This characteristic is widely variable through the species of the genus, and this incon- sistency has led several authors 5,6 to merge Gomidesia in the larger genus Myrcia, with which it shares all other characteristics that are generally considered as valid for distinguishing genera in the Myrtaceae, such as inflorescence structure, number of ovules per locule and embryo morphology. Legrand 3 and McVaugh 4 refer to a more or less constant tawny pubescence in the vegetat- ive parts of the species of the genus as a possible diag- nostic value, but they also recognize that it is not a constant feature. As a matter of fact, in light of the present knowledge of the generic boundaries in the Myrtaceae, there seems to be little reason in maintaining Gomidesia as an independent genus, and very probably the generic limits in Subtribe Myrciinae would be clearer with the fusion of Gomidesia and Myrcia. If accepted as a genus, Gomidesia comprises nine spe- cies in southern Brazil 7 , six of which are analysed in this paper, as part of our continuing interest in the essential oils of Brazilian native Myrtaceae. Gomidesia palustris (DC.) Kausel (voucher: Sobral 9021) is a treelet up to 5 m high from forest habitats of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil, where it ranges from Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul 7 . Pre- vious chemical analyses of this species showed a high tannin contents in the leaves, chiefly hydrolizable tannins with a predominance of ellagitannins. 8 Gomidesia sellowiana O. Berg (voucher: Sobral 9023) is a small tree up to 6 m high growing in forest formations from Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul, 7 where it is found mainly in highland Araucaria forests. Gomidesia anacardiifolia O. Berg (Gardner) (voucher: Sobral & Jarenkow 9059) is a tree from tropical Brazilian coastal forests growing from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul. 7 * Correspondence to: A. T. Henriques, Laboratoire de Chimie Organique- Physique, Université de Montpellier II, France. E-mail: amelia@farmacia.ufrgs.br Contract/grant sponsor: CNPq. Contract/grant sponsor: CAPES. Contract/grant sponsor: FAPERGS.