Characterization of the Volatile Constituents in the Essential Oil of Pistacia lentiscus L. from Different Origins and Its Antifungal and Antioxidant Activity

Abstract

Essential oil (EO) from aerial parts (leaves, juvenile branches, and flowers when present) of Pistacia lentiscus L. growing wild in five localities of Sardinia (Italy) was extracted by steam-distillation (SD) and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC), FID, and GC-ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS). Samples of P. lentiscus L. were harvested between April and October to study the seasonal chemical variability of the EO. A total of 45 compounds accounting for 97.5-98.4% of the total EO were identified, and the major compounds were alpha-pinene (14.8-22.6%), beta-myrcene (1-19.4%), p-cymene (1.6-16.2%), and terpinen-4-ol (14.2-28.3%). The yields of EO (v/dry w) ranged between 0.09 and 0.32%. Similar content of the major compounds was found in samples from different origins and seasonal variability was also observed. The EOs were tested for their antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Rhizoctonia solani, Penicillium commune, Fusarium oxysporum. Two samples were weakly effective against Aspergillus flavus. Furthermore, terpinenol and alpha-terpineol, two of the major components of EO of Pistacia lentiscus L., totally inhibited the mycelian growth of A. flavus. Quite good antioxidant activity of the EO was also found.

Inter-population variability of leaf morpho-anatomical and terpenoid patterns of Pistacia atlantica Desf. ssp. atlantica growing along an aridity gradient in Algeria

“…Recently, Gourine et al (2009) have identified 31 compounds from samples harvested at Laghouat with ␤-pinene (19.1%), ␣-terpineol (12.8%), bicyclogermacrene (8.2%) and spathulenol (9.5%) as the principal molecules. Qualitative and quantitative differences between literature data and our results may be explained by such factors as sex of the plants (Tzakou et al, 2007), period of plant collection (Barra et al, 2007;Gardeli et al, 2008;Hussain et al, 2008), plant competition (Ormeño et al, 2007b), position of leaves in the trees (Gambliel and Cates, 1995;Barnola et al, 1997), soil nutrient availability (Yang et al, 2005;Ormeño et al, 2008;Blanch et al, 2009) and water availability (Turtola et al, 2003;Blanch et al, 2009). Moreover, according to the method of extraction used, recovering the true components of the plant in vivo still remains a matter of debate.…”

Antimicrobial activity of Pistacia lentiscus and Satureja montana essential oils against Listeria monocytogenes CECT 935 using laboratory media: Efficacy and synergistic potential in minced beef

“…S. montana EO was characterized by a high percentage of carvacrol (29.19%), thymol (15.41%) and p-cymene (11.77%), followed by g-terpinene (6.72%), b-caryophyllene (5.38%) and farnesol (4.10%). Similar findings have been reported by other authors (Barra, Coroneo, Dessi, Cabras, & Angioni, 2007;Cavar et al, 2008). However, the percentage of most of the individual constituents present in both EOs differed significantly (P < 0.05) from other findings.…”

Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Potential of &lt;i&gt;Pistacia lentiscus&lt;/i&gt; L. Essential Oil from Oran (Algeria)

“…On the other hand, α-pinene was the major compound of the essential oils from Morocco (16.1% -38.5%) [10], Algeria (20.0% -34.2% and 19%) [9] [19], Tunisia (16.8%) [11], Greece (24.9% -9.4%) [12], Italy (14.8% -22.6% and 18%) [13] [14], Spain (13.0%) [15] and France (31.9%) [6].…”