Chemical Compositions of Essential Oil of Piper Species from Atlantic Forest of Amazonia, Brazil

Essential oils from the leaves of Piper japurense (Miq.) C. DC., P. coariense Yunk., P. auriculifolium Yunk., P. curtistilum C.DC., P. alatipetiolatum Yunk. and P. brevesanum Yunk. from the Amazon Forest (Brazil) were obtained through hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the oils was determined using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, which revealed the presence of 108 compounds representing 95.14%, 95.64%, 95.57%, 92.05%, 96.24% and 91.316% of the oils, respectively. All oils had an abundance of sesquiterpenes, except the oil from P. alatipetiolatum, which had a higher percentage of monoterpenes. The major components were alpha-eudesmol in the P. japurense (22.05%) and P. coariense (27.33%) oils, premnaspirodiene (32.26%) in the P. auriculifolium oil, caryophyllene oxide (28.69%) in the P. curtistilum oil, linalool (43.88%) in the P. alatipetiolatum oil and beta-elemene (12.75%) in the P. brevesanum oil. Although the oils were composed of terpenes, the chemical analysis revealed qualitative and quantitative differences. This is the first report of the chemical composition of these six species of Piper that occur in the Amazonia biome in Brazil.