secondary metabolites have been identified in the Lauraceae. Although the phytochemical survey 
of the family is still meager, the distribution of these chemical compounds across the genera 
suggests some support to Kostermans' classification system based on morphology; for the 
presence of some chemicals occurs only within the limits of certain tribes and subtribes 
(Gottlieb, 1972). The Cinnamomeae (sensu Kostermans) are particularly rich in secondary 
compounds, all the eleven classes of these chemicals have been found at least in one genus of 
this tribe. One of these chemical classes, the arylpropanoids, are rather restricted to that tribe 
(except for Eusideroxylon in the Cryptocaryeae) and can be a good source of information for 
systematics. However, as Birch (1963) suggested, the understanding of biosynthetic pathways is 
crucial, rather than only the record of presence or absence of classes of compounds for the 
elucidation of evolutionary relationships among taxa. Unfortunately, the pathways of production 
of arylpropanoids (derived from the amino acid phenylalanine) have several steps that are not 
fully understood and are still under study (Birch, 1963; Gottlieb, 1972). Beside this problem, 
although arylpropanoids are well represented in Cinnamomum, the amount and type of these 
metabolites vary widely, even within species (Guenther, 1950; Fujita, 1951 in Birch, 1963); 
which emphasizes the fact that before using these chemicals as taxonomic markers, it is 
necessary to make a general survey of their content to understand the source of variation related 
with type of plant material, stage of growth, and ecological conditions. In spite of these 
problems, some authors claim to have succeeded in relating the production of certain chemicals 
and the evolutionary relationships within taxa of the Lauraceae (Gottlieb, 1982; Gottlieb & 
Kubitzki, 1982), even in Cinnamomum (Fujita, 1952; 1960). Originally, a general survey to 
detect the presence and variation of arylpropanoids in neotropical Cinnamomum was considered 
28 
