Chemotaxonomical Aspects of Lower Cretaceous Amber from Reconcavo Basin, Brazil

The chemical composition of Lower Cretaceous amber samples from Reconcavo Basin (Salvador, Bahia) was performed by GC-MS to characterize possible botanical sources. The compounds identified were hydrocarbonic and polar diterpenoids, such as abietane, dehydroabietane, tetrahydroretene, dehydroabietol, dehydroabietic acid, ferruginol and sugiol. Other diterpenoid classes were not detected as well as triterpenoids. The composition of the extracts and chemosystematic data allows relating the samples to conifers of Podocarpaceae or Cheirolepidiaceae families due to detection of ferruginol, a specific biomarker to these families. The data concerning Cretaceous amber in the Reconcavo Basin provided information concerning the presence of a resinous flora in the Maracangalha Formation sediments during the Lower Cretaceous.