Chemical study of Myrcia sylvatica (G. Meyer) DC. leaves

Some Myrtaceae species have important uses by traditional Brazilian communities to treat many diseases. Among those species, there is one called Myrcia sylvatica included in the group of species known as “pedra-ume-caá” or vegetal insulin, which is used to treat diabetes1. Studies have shown the anesthetic and sedative effects of M. sylvatica essential oils on fish with preventing stress response and excess of reactive oxygen formation2. Considering the pharmacological potential of Myrtaceae species, the antioxidant activity of Myrcia species, the traditional use of M. sylvatica and the lack of published studies on the chemical composition of this species, the objective of this work was to investigate the volatile and non-volatile compounds from M. sylvatica leaves of a specimen collected in the city of Acará, state of Pará, Brazil. Dry leaves were extracted by maceration with methanol. Classical chromatographic and usual spectrometric methods (NMR and MS) led to the identification of the triterpenes α-amirin and β-amirin and glycosylated sitosterol from the methanolic extract. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and steam distillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The chemical composition of the essential oil shows the predominance of the sesquiterpene caryophyllene (E), γ-elemene and germacrene-D. The yield of these compounds varied depending on the extraction method. Extration by hydrodistillation resulted in higher contents of those three compounds.