Volatiles of foliar rachis, branches and resin elicited by insects from protium hebetatum grows wild in Amazon

Abstract

The essential oils extracted from foliar rachis and resin from two trees of Protium hebetatum (resin: tree A; foliar rachis and branches: tree B) were extracted by hydrodistillation and examined by CG-MS. The trunk wood resin of the tree A, released by the action of the insects, was extracted during one hour (Sample A) and for more three hours (Sample B). Both resin oils obtained were characterized by the predominance of monoterpenes, among them, p-cymene (35.8 %; 38.9 %), cis-β-dihydroterpineol (10.0 %; 3.2 %), limonene (9.0 %; 11.7 %), α-pinene (8.7 %; 20.3 %), and α-phellandrene (3.5 % 8.1 %). α-Pinene was predominant only in the branches (14.6 %) while α-cubebene (5.6 %; 9.2 %), α-copaene (8.3 %; 11.7 %), β-caryophyllene (12.8 %; 9.1 %) and caryophyllene oxide (23.3 %; 15.4 %), respectively, were found in major amount in foliar rachis and branches. We agree that the great amount of resin that was observed in the trunk wood of the tree A could be justified by the association of insects producing a continuous exudation. © 2010 Har Krishan Bhalla & Sons.