Chemical Constituents and Larvicidal Activity of Hymenaea courbaril Fruit Peel

• Published in: Natural product communications 2010-12, Vol.5 (12), p.1977-1980
• Main Authors: Aguiar, José Cláudio D., Santiago, Gilvandete M. P., Lavor, Patrícia L., Veras, Helenicy N. H., Ferreira, Yana S., Lima, Michele A. A., Arriaga, Ângela M. C., Lemos, Telma L. G., Lima, Jefferson Q., de Jesus, Hugo C. R., Alves, Péricles B., Braz-Filho, Raimundo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aedes; Animals; Fruit - chemistry; Hymenaea - chemistry; Insecticides - pharmacology; Larva - drug effects; Oils, Volatile - analysis; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology
• ISSN: 1934-578X; 1555-9475
• DOI: 10.1177/1934578X1000501231

The chemical compositions of the essential oils from the peel of ripe and unripe fruits of Hymenaea courbaril L., obtained by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The main constituents of the essential oil from the peel of the ripe fruits were the sesquiterpenes α-copaene (11.1%), spathulenol (10.1%) and β-selinene (8.2%), while germacrene-D (31.9%), β-caryophyllene (27.1%) and bicyclogermacrene (6.5%) were the major compounds in the oil from unripe fruits. The essential oils were tested against Aedes aegypti larvae and showed LC50 values of 14.8 ± 0.4 μg/mL and 28.4 ± 0.3 μg/mL for the ripe and unripe fruit peel oils, respectively. From the peel of the ripe fruits, the diterpenes zanzibaric acid and isoozic acid were isolated, along with the sesquiterpene caryolane-1,9β-diol. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this sesquiterpene in the genus. The structures of all compounds isolated were identified on the basis of their spectral data (IR, MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR) and by comparison with literature spectral data.