Seasonal variation of the chemical constituents from croton species.

Abstract

The terpenes, sterols, alkaloid (glaucine) and a-tocopherol show seasonal variation for Croton hemiargyreus hemiargyreus and Croton echinocarpus. The amounts of triterpenes are higher during the tropical summer and in most samples the major sesquiterpene was characterized as caryophyllene. The seasonal variation of glaucine showed a maximum between June and October for C. hemiargyreus, and was present only in January and June in C. echinocarpus.