TERPENES OF PERSEA-TOLIMANENSIS (LAURACEAE), AN ANCESTOR OF THE GUATEMALAN AVOCADOS

Persea tolimanensis is a recently described species from the Guatemala n highlands: It is considered to be an ancestor of the Guatemalan crio llos and edible avocados together with Persia americana ssp. nubigena and steyermarkii. Its essential leaf oils, including the late eluting avocado furans, are here described for the first time. Of 63 component s eluted on a 30-m R(tx-1) capillary column, 48 were identified throug h mass spectroscopy, and the MS data are given for the remaining 15 un knowns. The largest sesquiterpene was beta-caryophyllene with 23 %, th e largest monoterpene was sabinene with 21 %, and the largest furan co mponent was avocadenofuran with 4.2 %. It is evident from the data tha t P. tolimanensis does not belong to the Mexican or Lowland (West Indi an) group of avocados but firmly belongs to the Guatemalan assemblage and may very well be an ancestor to these.