Chemical Composition and Antioxidant DPPH Activity of the Floral and Leaves Essential Oils of cMontanoa speciosa</i> DC

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillationfrom leaves and flowers of Montanoaspeciosa collected in southeastern Mexico (Yucatan) were analyzed by GC-MS.A total of 71 and 79 components, representing 98.44% and 97.69% of the leaf andflower oils, respectively, were characterized. The main constituents found were β-caryophyllene(20.73%, 17.95%), δ-cadinene (9.88%, 9.28%), caryophyllene oxide (9.48%, 8.68%), and germacrene D(6.94%, 5.85%). The essential oils were screened for their antioxidantpotentials by DPPH assay. The leaves oilexhibited higher DPPH scavenging capability (72.85 ± 0.28 mmol TE/gessential oil and 147.83 ± 0.41 mg/mL Vit C/g essential oil) than the floraloil (68.43 ± 0.10 mmol TE/g essential oil and 131.59 ± 0.87 mg/mL Vit C/g essentialoil).