Characterization and Antimicrobial Evaluation of the Essential Oil of Pinus pinea L. from Turkey

Abstract

Pinus pinea L. is commonly known as Stone or Umbrella Pine, which is a member of the family Pinaceae and grows natively in the northern Mediterranean and Aegean coastal regions; southern Europe, north Africa, Spain to Turkey. P. pinea is also cultivated for its edible pine nuts, as ornamental trees and commonly planted in gardens and parks.  Its essential oil is used for a variety of skin complaints, wounds, sores, burns, in herbal steam baths and various inhalers. Air dried needles collected from Ortanca-Muğla were subjected to water-distillation using a Clevenger-type system. The resulting essential oil was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS, simultaneously. Overall, thirty components were characterized. Limonene (54.6 %), α-pinene (4.0 %), myrcene (2.4 %) and α- phellandrene (2.4 %) were characterized as major constituents. The essential oil was also screened against 8 different human pathogenic microorganisms, where the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined using a microdilution method. The oil showed the same inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli, Staphyloccocus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris and Salmonella thyphimurium (MIC>0.75 mg/ml). Its antifungal susceptibility against Candida parapsilosis was relatively more than that of the pathogen Candida albicans with a MIC value of 0.375 mg/ml, when compared with the antifungal standards.