Essential Oil Composition of the Leaves and Spikes of<i>Piper carpunya</i>Ruíz et Pavón (Piperaceae) from Peru

Abstract

A steam distilled oil obtained from the leaves and spikes of Piper capunya Ruíz et Pavón (syn. Piper lenticellosum C. DC.) grown in the Peruvian Amazon basin was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. In the leaf oil, 38 components amounting to 93.7% of the oil were characterized; in the oil from the spikes, 36 constituents adding up to 98.4% were identified. The oil from the leaves was shown to contain α-terpinene (12.1%), p-cymene (10.9%), 1,8-cineole (13.0%), safrole (14.9%) and spatulenol (9.8%) as major constituents, whereas the spike oil was shown to have α-terpinene (9.8%), p-cymene (7.7%), 1,8-cineole (30.2%) and safrole (32.0%). © 2004, Taylor &amp; Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.