Abstract

MEDINA, Ernesto; AGUIAR, Guillermina; GOMEZ, Matilde  and  MEDINA, José D. INCI [online]. 2004, vol.29, n.10, pp.579-582. ISSN 0378-1844.

The genus Clusia L. (Clusiaceae) encompasses ca. 300 species and occurs from southern USA and Mexico, to southern Brazil and Bolivia. It includes free-standing trees and shrubs, hemiepiphytes, epiphytes, and lianas. Taxonomic analysis of this genus is difficult because of the poor preservation of floral material after drying. This work explores the composition of epicuticular waxes in order to allow characterization, at the species level, using chemical markers. The six species analyzed could be separated using the relative quantity of hexane-soluble compounds extractable from the leaf surface, which amount to >90% in Clusia rosea, C. orthoneura, and C. minor, the presence of the triterpenes a-amyrin and lupeol in C. multiflora, and of friedelin and taraxerol, together with C33 and C35, in C. grandiflora and C. schomburgkiana. The results suggest that the relative proportions of alkanes and triterpenoids in epicuticular waxes may have taxonomic significance for separating species or infrageneric sections.

Keywords : Alkanes; Chemotaxonomy; Clusia; Epicuticular Waxes; Triterpenes.