Phytochemical preliminary study of hexane fractions of leaves of Eugenia uniflora L. (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

Fractions from the Hexane Extract (HE) of Eugenia uniflora L. leaves were subjected to various chromatographic systems. Germacrone sesquiterpene and bornyl acetate bicyclic ester were characterized by High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS) with APCI Mass detector comparing with their homonymous spectrum provided by databases and characteristic fragmentation pathways were proposed. The monoterpene pulegone and the pentacyclic triterpene compound, ursolic acid, were found through High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HPLC - HRMS) by atmospheric pressure ionization (API) and the detector used was mass of Electronic Impact (IE). Both ursolic acid and bornyl acetate are present in other species of the same genus, but not in the species studied.