Chemical variability in the essential oil of Hyptis suaveolens

The essential oils of Hyptis suaveolens plants collected from 11 localities of the Brazilian Cerrado region were investigated by GC–MS. Sabinene, limonene, biclyclogermacrene, β-phellandrene and 1,8-cineole were the principal constituents. The results were submitted to principal component and chemometric cluster analysis which allowed three groups of essential oils to be distinguished with respect to the content of p-mentha-2,4(8)-diene, limonene/β-phellandrene/γ-terpinene and germacrene D/bicyclogermacrene. In patterns of geographic variation in essential oil composition indicated that the sesquiterpenes are mainly produced in the samples grown at lower latitudes. The essential oils of 11 populations of Hyptis suaveolens from the Brazilian Cerrado were analysed by GC–MS and their chemical variability investigated by principal component and cluster analysis.