Perfil químico dos compostos voláteis e do óleo essencial dE Lippia alba (MILL) N.E. Brown

Abstract

Lemon balm (Lippia alba) is a species widely used in folk medicine as a sedative, analgesic and spasmolytic. The literature reports at least three chemotypes of the species: citral-myrcene, citral-limonene and carvone-limonene and their identification is important for the correct pharmacological use. The present study aimed to evaluate the chemical profile of the volatile components and the essential oil with subsequent identification of the chemotype of L. alba found on the research campus of the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results suggest that the chemotype analyzed is citral-myrcene, that the compound ―citral a‖ was not identified in the chemical profile of the flowers and that the hydrodistillation technique of the leaves revealed a higher yield in the content of the major components of the leaf in relation to the distillation technique and simultaneous extraction.