Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil Extracted from the Leaves of the Male and Female Individuals and Fruits of Schinus terebenthifolius

Schinus terebenthifolius popularly known as aroeira, is a plant widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of respiratory disorders, mycosis and invasive candidal infections. The chemical composition of the essential oil of S. terebenthifolius from different parts of the world is described in the literature, however, there are no comparative reports of essential oils composition from male and female individuals of this plant. In this context, this study aimed to determine the essential oil composition of leaves (male and female plants) and green and ripe fruits from S. terebenthifolius. The essential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation and chemical composition were obtained by gas chromatography at GC-MS and CG-FID systems. Regarding the chemical composition, all the essential oils showed predominance of monoterpene compounds, except the essential oil of leaves from female plant, which presented higher content of sesquiterpenes constituents. The monoterpene D-limonene (39.52-96.61 %) was presented as the main volatile component of leaves (male individual) and in green fruits. The sesquiterpene beta-caryophyllene (30.20 %) and the monoterpene terpinen-4-ol (64.59 %) were identified as major constituents of essential oils extracted from the leaves of the female individual and the ripe fruits, respectively. These components are reported with antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, among others properties. In this sense, the chemical composition knowledge indicates that the essential oils properties should be investigated to increase the importance of these volatiles in therapeutic applications.