Patrícia Sartorelli* and Daniela Saraiva Correa

Abstract: The essential oil of Bauhinia forficata was obtained from leaves by steam distillation. The oil was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. In total, 15 components were identified being 14 sesquiterpenes and one hydrocarbon. The main component found was γ-elemene (38.4%) followed by α-bulnesene (17.3%), cariophyllene oxide (9.4%) and (Z)-β- farnesene (9.1%).

The genus Bauhunia belongs to Leguminosae family, subfamily Caessalpinioideae and comprising about 300 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions (1). Several therapeutic properties are attributed to Bauhinia genus including anti-ameboic, anti-diabetic, analgesic, anti-rheumatic and hypocholesteromic (2,3). Bauhinia forficata is a tree which grows in Brazil from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul states. This species, commonly know as “Pata-de-Vaca” due to the form of its leaves, has been used in popular medicine to treat diabetes showing a significant hypoglycemic effect in diabetic rats (4,5). This species has been described in the literature as accumulating free and glycosides flavonoids, like kaempferol and quercetin, beside steroids like β−sitosterol (6). Essential oils have been described in Leguminosae family rarely, being the genus Bauhinia an exception. This paper reports the chemical composition of the essential oil in Bauhinia forficata collected in São Paulo state – Brazil.