The Myrtaceae family is one of the most representative in the Amazon. Several species have high added-value pharmacological potential. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the aromatic profile of Myrtaceae species from the Amazon, the present study presents the first report on the productivity, chemical composition, and antioxidant profile of the essential oil (EO) of Myrcia paivae. Dry leaves of the species were submitted to hydrodistillation to obtain their EO. The EO performance was calculated on a moisture-free basis and the analysis of the chemical profile was carried out by GC/MS. The determination of the antioxidant capacity was assessed by means of the antioxidant capacity equivalent to the inhibition Trolox of the ABTS•+ and DPPH• radicals. The results indicate that EO performance was equivalent to 1.69%. As for the chemical composition, hydrocarbon monoterpenes were predominant in the sample (>77%); terpinolene (14.70%), α-phellandrene (14.69%), γ-terpinene (9.64%), sylvestrene (7.62%), α-thujene (6.46%), and α-pinene (6.39%) were the constituents with higher content. Regarding the antioxidant capacity, the results show that the EO presented good results in the inhibition of ABTS•+ (0.886 ± 0.226 mM L−1) and DPPH• (2.90 ± 0.083 mM L−1), which can be attributed to the high monoterpene content in the sample.
Keywords: Amazonia; natural products; phytochemicals; terpenes.