Essential oils of the Amazon Guatteria and Guatteriopsis species

The essential oils of Guatteria juruensis , G. microcalyx , G. poeppigiana and Guatteriopsis blepharophylla were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by GC and GC[sol ]MS. The main compounds found in the leaf oil of Guatteria juruensis were spathulenol (77.5%) and α ‐pinene (4.5%). The leaf oil of Guatteria microcalyx was dominated by caryophyllene oxide (44.2%), α ‐pinene (11.9%) and β ‐pinene (6.3%). The major constituents identified in the leaf oil of Guatteria poeppigiana were spathulenol (53.0%), kushinol (10.9%) and humulene epoxide II (5.7%). The main volatiles found in the leaf oil of Guatteriopsis blepharophylla were caryophyllene oxide (51.0%), humulene epoxide II (6.8%) and 14‐hydroxy‐9‐ epi ‐(E)‐caryophyllene (4.1%). The spathulenol and caryophyllene oxide could be considered as chemotaxonomic markers due their common occurrence in Xylopia , Guatteria and Duguetia species. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.