Headspace Analysis of Volatile Compounds Coupled to Chemometrics in Leaves from the Magnoliaceae Family

Headspace volatile analysis has been used for volatiles profiling in leaves of 4 Magnolia species with a total of 75 compounds were identified. Monterpene hydrocarbons dominated the volatile blend of M. calophylla (86%), M. acuminata (78%), M. virginiana (70%) and M. grandiflora (47%) with b -pinene and b -ocimene occurring in the largest amounts, whereas sesquiterpenes were the most abundant compounds in M. grandiflora (39%). High levels of oxygenated compounds were only found in M. virginiana volatile blend (11.4%) with 2-phenylethyl alcohol as major component. Hierarchical cluster analysis performed on volatiles content revealed the close relationship between M. acuminata and M. calophylla.