Essential oils of the leaves and stems of four Psidium spp.

The essential oils of the leaves and fine stems of Psidium acutangulum, P. striatulum, P. guineense and P. guajava were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. The main compounds identified in the oil of P. acutangulum were alpha-pinene (14.8%), 1,8-cineole (12.9%) and beta-pinene (10.1%). The oil of P. striatulum was dominated by beta-caryophyllene (28.6%), alpha-selinene (7.7%), caryophyllene oxide (7.6%) and beta-selinene (7.4%). The major constituents found in the oil of P. guineense were beta-bisabolol (17.4%), limonene (6.8%) and epi-alpha-bisabolol (6.7%). The oil of P. guajava was dominated by alpha-pinene (23.9%), 1,8-cineole (21.4%) and beta-bisabolol (9.2%). Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.