Chemical composition and biological activity of essential oils from Piper species of Panama

The chemical composition of the leaf essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of 6 Piper sp.(Piperaceae) from Panama were analyzed by a combination of GC-FID and GC-MS using two capillary columns of different stationary phases (Supelcowax™10 and methylsilicone SE-30). Identification of constituents was achieved by means of their GC retention indices in the two stationary phases and by comparison of their mass spectral fragmentation patterns with those stored in our own library, in the GC-MS database and with literature data. The main components identified in each species were as follows: cembratrienol (25,4%) and derivatives (8,9%), cembrene (15,3%), β-elemene (14,0%) in P. augustum Rudge; β-pinene (26,6%), 6-E-nerolidol (12,8%), p-cymene (8,6%), and limonene (8,2%) in P. corrugatum Kuntze; α-pinene (19,4%), β-caryophyllene (13,9%), and limonene (8,1%) in P. curtispicum C.DC.; p-cymene (43,9%), β-pinene (14,5%) and γ-terpinene (8,0%) in P. grande Vahl; linalool (14,5%), α-phellandrene (13,8%), limonene (12,2%), β-pinene (10,1%) and α-pinene (9,6%) in P. jacquemontianum Kunth; 6-E-nerolidol (8,7%), α-pinene (6,6%), and α-copaene (5,3%) in P. multiplinervium C. DC. The ethnobotanical uses and biological activities of the species studies will be presented. Acknowledgement: SENACYT, Panamá.