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Composition of the essential oil of

Buddleja thyrsoides Lam. leaves from
Brazil
a

J.D. Mahlke , A.A. Boligon , M.M. Machado & M.L. Athayde

Program of Post-Graduation in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal

University of Santa Maria UFSM , Campus Camobi, Santa Maria ,
RS 97105-900 , Brazil
b

Program of Post-Graduation in Pharmaceutical Sciences , Federal

University of Pampa UNIPAMPA , Uruguaiana , RS 97500-970 ,
Brazil
Published online: 06 Nov 2012.

To cite this article: J.D. Mahlke , A.A. Boligon , M.M. Machado & M.L. Athayde (2013) Composition
of the essential oil of Buddleja thyrsoides Lam. leaves from Brazil, Natural Product Research:
Formerly Natural Product Letters, 27:14, 1319-1322, DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2012.740035
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2012.740035

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Natural Product Research, 2013

Vol. 27, No. 14, 13191322, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2012.740035

SHORT COMMUNICATION
Composition of the essential oil of Buddleja thyrsoides Lam.
leaves from Brazil
J.D. Mahlkea, A.A. Boligona*, M.M. Machadob and M.L. Athaydea
a

Program of Post-Graduation in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Santa

Maria UFSM, Campus Camobi, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; bProgram of
Post-Graduation in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Pampa UNIPAMPA,
Uruguaiana, RS 97500-970, Brazil

Downloaded by [CERIST] at 15:50 16 April 2014

(Received 6 July 2012; final version received 18 September 2012)

This study is designed to examine the chemical composition of the essential oil
obtained from Buddleja thyrsoides Lam leaves from south Brazil. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis resulted in the detection of 12 components,
representing 91.4% of the total oil composition. Germacrene D (27.16%),
1,10-di-epi-Cubenol (13.37%), -Cadinol (12.95%), Bicyclogermacrene (9.00%),
Globulol (8.59%) and caryophylene E (5.26%) were the main components.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the composition of essential
oil of the B. thyrsoides collected in Brazil.
Keywords: Buddleja thyrsoides; essential oil; GC/MS

1. Introduction
Buddleja is a genus present in Southern Asia, Africa and America. It comprises nearly 100
species, and the larger number of these species occurs in Americas (Mabberley, 1987;
Mahlke et al., 2009). In Brazil, 14 native species are known with distribution in Southern
and Southeastern regions, except Buddleja brasiliensis, which is distributed in CentralWestern and Northeastern regions of Brazil (Mabberley, 1987). Several species of this
genus have been utilised in traditional medicine in many parts of the world (Houghton
et al., 1996; Houghton, Abrahan, Mensah, & Yong-Hong, 2003; Mahlke et al., 2009).
Ethnopharmacological and chemotaxonomic considerations have led to several
investigations of the chemical constituents of the Buddleja species in recent years, and
the majority of uses of this genus are concerned with the leaves and flowers (Houghton
et al., 2003; Liao, Hounghton, & Hoult, 1999; Mahlke, Zanetti, Machado, Manfron, &
Athayde, 2008; Mahlke et al., 2009). Researches of some species of the genus Buddleja
resulted in the isolation of terpenoids, flavonoids, iridoids, phenylethanoids, phenylpropanoids, sesquiterpens, lignans and saponins (Ding, Yahara, & Nohara, 1992; Emam
et al., 1996; Guo et al., 2004; Houghton et al., 2003; Liao et al., 1999; Yamamoto, Nitta,
Miyase, Ueno, & Wu 1993). Several of these chemical compounds have shown inhibitor
effect on the generation of eicosanoids of leucocytes, antihepatotoxic, antifungal,
antibacterial, antiprotozoan, diuretic, antirheumatics and in asthma, bronchitis and
cough (Arciniegas, Avendano, Perez-Castorena, & Romo de Vivar, 1997; Houghton et al.,
*Corresponding author. Email: alineboligon@hotmail.com

2013 Taylor & Francis

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J.D. Mahlke et al.

2003; Mahlke et al., 2009). Buddleja specie from Bolivia was evaluated for insecticidal
activity (Laurent et al., 1997), and the oil composition was studied to Lorenzo, Loayza,
and Dellacassa (2006).
Buddleja thyrsoides Lam., commonly known as Barbasco or Cambara-do-campo, is
a plant of distribution in Southern of South America. In Brazilian traditional medicine, its
leaves and flowers are taken by drinking an infusion made with hot water (tea) for the
treatment of bronchitis and cough (Mahlke et al., 2008). Some previously published work
by Mahlke et al. (2009) and Mahlke, Boligon, Machado, & Athayde (2012) describes the
antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, as well as antiplatelet and acetylcholinesterase
inhibition, of B. thyrsoides. The literature search did not reveal any report on the essential
oil composition of B. thyrsoides. Therefore, the present study report the chemical
composition essential oil from leaves of B. thyrsoides, accessed by gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis.

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2. Results and discussion

Essential oil with intense odour was obtained from leaves of B. thyrsoides by
hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS. The components of the oil examined are
reported in Table 1. Twelve components, representing 91.4% of the total composition,

Table 1. Composition of essential oil from Buddleja thyrsoides.

Compounds
Sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons
Cadinene group
-Cubebene
-Muurolene
Germacrene D
-Cadinene
Caryophyllene group
Ceryiphyllene E
Germacrene group
Bicyclogermacrene
Sesquiterpenes oxygens
Cadinene group
1-10-Di-epi-cubenol
-Cadinol
Germacrene group
Spathulenol
Globulol
Viridiflorol
Other
Phytol
Identified compounds
Grouped components
Sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons
Sesquiterpenes oxygens

%a

Rtb

KIc

KId

Mol. formula

1.54
1.51
27.16
8.59

9.80
10.73
10.81
11.20

899
1103
1115
1166

972
1104
1115
1168

C15H24
C15H24
C15H24
C15H24

5.24

10.17

1024

1028

C15H24

9.00

10.97

1132

1137

C15H24

13.37
12.95

12.39
12.52

1329
1347

1329
1346

C15H26O
C15H26O

3.61
3.10
2.32

11.80
11.87
11.96

1249
1257
1270

1249
1259
1271

C15H24O
C15H26O
C15H26O

2.01

16.25

1853

1853

C20H40O

90.40
53.04
35.35

Notes: aRelative proportions of the essential oil constituents were expressed as percentages obtained
by peak-area normalisation, all relative response factors being taken as one.
b
Retention time according to their order on MS.
c
Kovats index experimental (based on homologous series of n-alkane C7C30).
d
Kovats index literature (Adams, 2001).

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were identified. The oil was characterised by a high content of Germacrene D (27.16%),
1,10-di-epi-Cubenol (13.37%), -Cadinol (12.95%), Bicyclogermacrene (9.00%), Globulol
(8.59%) and Caryophylene E (5.26%). Of the total composition, 35.35% are
sesquiterpenos oxygenated. According with the procedure described, only sesquiterpenic
compounds were registered by GC. The -Cadinene constituent of the B. thyrsoides leaves
was related to essential oil of B. tucumanensis (Lorenzo et al., 2006) from Bolivia,
meanwhile this substance is three times more concentrated in the B. thyrsoides oil. Despite
belonging to the same genus, only one component was common to both species. A very
significant factor is the difference in climate and altitude, particularly where the plants
were cultivated, which are very different, causing a variation in the composition of the oil
(Simoes et al., 2004).
The chemical composition of volatile oil of Myrcianthes species, a native plant from
south region of Brazil, was found six compounds, -Muurolene, -cadinol,
Bicyclogermacrene, Globulol, -Cadinene and Sphatulenol (Apel, Sobral, & Henriques,
2006) which are present in B. thyrsoides too. These compounds were found in Myrcia
species including two more substancies Germacrene D and 1,10-di-epi-Cubenol
(Limberger, Sobral, & Henriques, 2004), equally present in the essential oil of
B. thyrsoides leaves. The analysis of the chemical composition of oil of this plant is the
first work described in the literature for this species.
3. Conclusion
This is the first study of the chemical composition of essential oil of B. thyrsoides leaves,
were identified 12 main components representing 91.4%, being 53.04% of sesquiterpene
hydrocarbons and 35.35% oxygenates. Considering the results presented here, further
studies can be performed with the oil of this species in order to relate the chemical
constituents found with a particular biological property.
Supplementary material
Experimental details relating to this article are available online.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the professors from NAPO (Centre for Analysis and Organic
Research at UFSM) for providing the GC/MS chromatograms and spectra and A.F. Morel
(Department of Chemistry at UFSM) for the assessment of the n-alkane series.

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