Volatile Constituents of Two Croton Species from Caatinga Biome of Pernambuco – Brasil

Leaf and stem essential oils from Crotonpulegioides Müll.Arg. and C. rhamnifolius var. heliotropiifolius (Kunth) Müll.Arg were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed using gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The composition of the oils from the two Croton species was very different. The main components of the C. pulegioides oils were 1,8-cineole (15.86± 0.23% in leaf), p-cymene (14.40± 0.01% in leaf), camphor (13.28%± 0.12% in leaf) and α-humulene (12.98± 0.22% in leaf), α-calacorene (12.95± 0.45% in stem), cis-isolongifolane (8.94±0.54% in stem) and juniper camphor (6.44±0.45% in stem). The main components of the C. rhamnifolius var. heliotropiifolius oils were β-caryophyllene (20.82±0.48% in leaf), spathulenol (16.37±0.56% in leaf) and β-elemene (17.28±0.06% in stem) and guaiol (18.38±0.84% in stem). Phenylpropanoids common to Croton species were only found in C. rhamnifolius var. heliopropiifolius oils at percentages below 5%. This is the first report of the essential oil constituents of C. pulegioides and C. rhamnifolius var. heliotropiifolius from the Caatinga biome of the state of Pernambuco (Northeastern Brazil).