VOLATILE COMPOUNDS OF AÇAIZEIRO INFLORESCENCE, Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Arecaceae)

Abstract

Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Arecaceae), popularly known as açaizeiro,is an endemic palm tree from the Amazon Basin, which has been acquiring great economic importance due its increasing consumption as it is considered a healthy food.Its cultivation has been increasing significantly which has encouraged the efforts for its domestication.In order to understand the relationship of the plant with the environment, we developed studies on the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of E.olerace inflorescences and their relationship with the visiting floral insects. The VOCs were obtained by aeration of the flowers for two hours in the morning and afternoon.The volatiles were adsorbed in 50 mg Porapack. Comparative observations of floral visitors were performed at different times and in each inflorescence phase, male and female. A significant increase in floral visitors in the male phase was observed in the first observation time (from 8:00 to 12:00). These observations led to the hypothesis that the male phase of inflorescence releases more volatile appeal to floral visitors than the female phase. The constituent analysis was performed by Flame Ionization Detector Gas Chromatography (CG-FID) and Mass Spectrometer-coupled with Gas Chromatography (GC-MS). The compounds were identified through the study of fragmentation in the mass spectrometer and comparisons with data from the literature, Kovats index and microderivatizations. Six specific male inflorescence compounds were identified: Benzyl alcohol; Linalool oxide; Linalool oxide; Linalol; 2,2,6-Trimethyl-6-vinyldihydro-2H-pyran-3 (4H) -one and 2,2,6-trimethyl-6-vinyl tetrahydro-2H-pyran-3-ol. Another observation was regarding the concentration of these compounds, higher in the morning hours compared to the afternoon. These compounds have been reported as insect attractants in flowers of different plant species. This suggests that the higher incidence of floral visitors to male flowers in the first observation time is due to the higher concentration of these compounds released by the flowers.