Essential oil compounds from the leaf of <i>Eugenia samanensis</i> Alain (Myrtaceae), a species endemic to the Samaná Peninsula, Dominican Republic

Abstract

Eugenia samanensis Alain is an endangered species of Myrtaceae unique to the Samaná Peninsula, Dominican Republic. We investigated its foliar essential oil (EO) composition from dried leaves, extracted via hydrodistillation, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for identification and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) for quantification. E. samanensis leaves produced an average of 1.6 ± 0.1% (w/w) EO and 23 compounds were identified, representing 98.4% of the EO composition. The EO composition consisted of 84.4% phenylpropenes, 8.9% oxygenated monoterpenes, 4.0% oxygenated sesquiterpenes, 0.4 % monoterpenes, 0.4% sesquiterpenes, and 0.25% other. The EO was richest in the phenylpropene, methyleugenol. The abundance of phenylpropenes in the EO of E. samanensis may be unique to Eugenia, suggesting the need for further research to elucidate the biological function of these compounds, to review the taxonomic status of this species, and to perform further studies to explain the high phenylpropene content of this species.