Alkanes of surface waxes from eight species of aquatic angiosperms

Abstract

Surface waxes from eight species of aquatic angiosperms were extracted. Four species have submerged leaves ( Cabomba caroliniana Gray, Egeria densa Planch., Eriocaulon aquatile Koern. and Mayaca fluviatilis Aubl.), three have emergent leaves ( Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms, Myriophyllum aquaticum (Vell.) Verdc. and Pistia stratiotes L.) and one has floating leaves ( Nymphaea mexicana Zucc.). In all cases the yield of waxes was low and ranged among the species from 1.1 to 16.1 μg cm −2. The alkanes were separated from the waxes through column chromatography and identified by means of gas chromatography. The carbon chains of the alkanes of the species with submerged leaves are, on average, shorter than those of the species with air-exposed leaves. The distribution of alkanes of the latter species is similar to the alkane profiles of foliar waxes of terrestrial plants.