Bioprospecting of strawberry guava leaf essential oil in Caxias do Sul region, South Brazil

The strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum Sabine) is a fruit species native from South-Southeast Brazil whose leaf essential oil has potential for commercial uses due to its bioactive properties. However, little is known about the influence of the geographical distribution in small scale on P. cattleianum essential oil chemical composition and yield. The present work aimed to evaluate the yield and chemical composition of the leaf essential oil of P. cattleianum populations in the region of Caxias do Sul, South Brazil. Samples of twelve populations were collected and the essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oils was determined by GC/MS and GC-FID. The results showed a high variability of essential oil yield, which ranged between 0.08 and 0.75% v/w. Regarding the chemical profiles, nine populations presented the 1,8-cineole chemotype, the β-caryophyllene chemotype was observed in two of them, and in one population there were four major compounds. Both hierarchical cluster and principal component analyses showed differences in essential oil composition in populations geographically close, indicating the existence of an important genetic variability in populations of the same geographical area.