Química Nova (Jan 2012)

Chemical composition, circadian rhythm and antibacterial activity of essential oils of piper divaricatum: a new source of safrole

  • Queila P. S. Barbosa,
  • Cláudio A. G. da Câmara,
  • Clécio S. Ramos,
  • Daniele C. O. Nascimento,
  • José V. Lima-Filho,
  • Elsie F. Guimarães

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422012000900019
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35, no. 9
pp. 1806 – 1808

Abstract

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The essential oils from leaves, stems and fruits of Piper divaricatum were analyzed by GC-MS. The tissues showed high safrole content: leaves (98%), fruits (87%) and stems (83%), with yields of 2.0, 4.8 and 1.7%, respectively. This is a new alternative source of safrole, a compound widely used as a flavoring agent and insecticide. The leaf's oil showed antibacterial activity against gram-negative bacteria while safrole was active against Salmonella Typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, the study of circadian rhythm of the safrole concentration in the essential oils of leaves showed a negligible variation of 92 to 98%.

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