RESUMO
The aerial parts of Lantana camara L. were collected from three different geographical locations: Artemisa (Cuba), Biratnagar (Nepal), and Sana'a (Yemen). The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A cluster analysis of 39 L. camara essential oil compositions revealed eight major chemotypes: ß-caryophyllene, germacrene D, ar-curcumene/zingiberene, γ-curcumen-15-al/epi-ß-bisabolol, (E)-nerolidol, davanone, eugenol/alloaromadendrene, and carvone. The sample from Cuba falls into the group dominated by (E)-nerolidol, the sample from Nepal is a davanone chemotype, and the sample from Yemen belongs to the ß-caryophyllene chemotype. The chemical composition of L. camara oil plays a role in the biological activity; the ß-caryophyllene and (E)-nerolidol chemotypes showed antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.