Differential Accumulation of Volatile Organic Compounds by Leaves and Roots of Two Guianese Philodendron Species, P. fragrantissimum Kunth and P. melinonii Brongn.

Abstract

Leaf and root essential oils of two closely related but ecologically distant Philodendron species were extracted in natural conditions in French Guiana and analysed by GC/MS to i) describe the blends of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by those species and ii) analyse species and environment-based variations in extracts composition. A total of 135 VOCs were detected with a majority of aliphatic sesquiterpenes. P. fragrantissimum produced mainly β-bisabolene (on average 29.12% of the extract) as well as α- and β-selinene (14.52% and 17.50%, respectively) while in P. melinonii, four aliphatic sesquiterpenes could alternatively be the main component: (E)-β-farnesene (up to 91.42% of the extract), germacrene-D (73.74%), β-caryophyllene (51.63%) and trans-α-bergamotene (41.26%). A significant effect of species and organs on extracts composition was observed while the environment (sun exposure) only affected the relative proportions of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in roots of P. melinonii. These results are discussed in the light of the potential role of leaf and root terpenes in Philodendron species.

Volatile oils from Philodendron meridionale Buturi & Sakur: chemical composition and in vitro effect against Ctenocephalides felis and leukemia cells

“…Studies on the composition of volatile oils from Philodendron plants are still scarce. Limonene and copaene have been found in some other species of this genus, while caryophyllene has been observed in all of those studied taxa with some different stereochemical orientations and concentrations (Viana, Andrade-Neto & Pouliquen, 2002;Bezerra et al, 2002;Ottobelli et al, 2011;Castellar et al, 2013;Santiago et al, 2014;Bacchus et al, 2015;Joffard et al, 2017). Germacrene has also been investigated by Silva et al (2016) for Philodendron maximum K. Krause, as well as by Joffard et al (2017) for…”