Volatile Components in the Flower, Pedicellate Ovary and Aqueous Residue of Cymbidium sp. (ORCHIDACEAE)

Abstract

Cymbidium sp. has several ornamental, medicinal and cosmetic uses. Essential oils were obtained through extraction by hydrodistillation of flower and pedicellate ovary. The chromatographic profile was obtained by thin layer chromatography (TLC), combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), for the identification and relative quantification of various substances in three samples from the orchid (flower, pedicellate ovary and aqueous residue). With TLC, five compounds were identified in the flower, with the most abundant being terpineol, linalool and zingiberene, and five in the pedicellate ovary, with borneol, cineole, and β-bisabolene being in the greatest concentration, while for the aqueous residue, the most abundant was geraniol. Using GC/MS, 25 volatile components associated with the flower were identified, of which the most abundant were linalool (22.92%), 4-methyl-phenol (15.07%) and p-Menth-1-en-8-ol (12.32%). In pedicellate ovaries, 13 components were identified, with the most abundant being 4-methyl-phenol (31.24%), bicycle [4.4.0] dec-1-ene, 2-isopropyl-5-methyl-9-methylene-(17.74%) and 2-hexanone (10.24%), while in the aqueous residue 18 components were found, with the most abundant being 4-methyl-phenol (18.71%) and 2- cyclohexen-1-ol (14.60%).