Evaluation of the chemical composition and variability of the volatile oils from Trembleya parviflora leaves

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Trembleya parviflora (D. Don) Cogn., Melastomataceae, also known as “quaresmeira-branca”, is a subshrub that is commonly used to treat verminosis, scabies, dermatoses, rheumatism, vaginal infections, ulcerations and wounds. The aim of this work was to perform a morphological study of T. parviflora, evaluate the composition and chemical variability of the volatile oils from the leaves, perform phytochemical screening of the powder from the leaves and to define parameters for quality control of the plant material. Macroscopic characterization of T. parviflora was carried out by naked eye in Serra dos Pireneus, Pirenópolis, Goiás for 12 months. Volatile oils were subjected to hydrodistillation with Clevenger apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Phytochemical screening and ash and volatile compound content determination were performed by conventional techniques. T. parviflora has simple, oppositely crossed and petiolate leaves. The inflorescence of this plant is a cyme. The presence of coumarins, steroids, triterpenes, flavonoids and tannins was observed. The total ash content was 4.05±0.02%; the insoluble ash content was 0.10±0.03%; and the volatile compound content was 9.53±0.02%. The major compounds present in the volatile oils were α-terpineol (2.7–16.5%), α-pinene (0.6–25.4%), β-pinene (2.7–23.1%), sabinene (1.2–14.1%), acetoxyeudesman-4-α-ol (0.6–6.3%) and 2,4a-8,8-tetramethyldecahydrocyclopropanaphtalene (2.4–24.4). Two clusters were identified: Cluster I represented the period with low levels of rainfall, and Cluster II represented the period with high levels of rainfall. This study provides data that can be applied for the quality control of powdered leaves and is the first description of the chemical composition and variability of the volatile oils from the leaves of T. parviflora.