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Chemical evaluation and thermal analysis of the essential oil from the fruits of the vegetable species Pimenta dioica Lindl

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Abstract

The vegetal species Pimenta dioica Lindl, popularly known as Jamaican pepper, is a 6–15 m tall tree, which belongs to the Mirtaceae family. Its fruits have an essential oil of great economic value in the international market, due to its high level of eugenol (its major compound), which is largely used in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In this work, the extraction of the essential oil from the fruits of Pimenta dioica Lindl was carried out by the hydrodistillation method, using a modified Clevenger system. It was observed that the volume of the extracted oil reaches a maximum at 4 h, with a yield of 2.7% (m/m). The essential oil was characterized by physico-chemical analyses, such as density, refraction index, ethanol solubility, color, and appearance, besides UV–vis and infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Thus, eugenol was confirmed as the major component of the essential oil of Pimenta dioica Lindl (77%). The technique of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for the determination of boiling point of the sample of essential oil from the fruits of Pimenta dioica (L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Química, CCET, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, MA, CEP 65085-580, Brazil

    O. S. Monteiro & V. E. Mouchrek Filho

  2. Departamento de Química, CCEN, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, CEP 58059-900, Brazil

    A. G. Souza, L. E. B. Soledade, N. Queiroz & A. L. Souza

  3. Departamento de Química e Biologia, Universidade Estadual do Maranhão, São Luís, MA, CEP 65055-970, Brazil

    A. F. F. Vasconcelos

Authors
  1. O. S. Monteiro
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  2. A. G. Souza
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  3. L. E. B. Soledade
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  4. N. Queiroz
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  5. A. L. Souza
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  6. V. E. Mouchrek Filho
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  7. A. F. F. Vasconcelos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. Queiroz.

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Monteiro, O.S., Souza, A.G., Soledade, L.E.B. et al. Chemical evaluation and thermal analysis of the essential oil from the fruits of the vegetable species Pimenta dioica Lindl. J Therm Anal Calorim 106, 595–600 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1438-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1438-4

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