Essential oil composition of leaves of Pistacia lentiscus L. growing wild in Valencia (Spain)

Abstract

Pistacia lentiscus L. grows wild in a wide range of habitats in Mediterranean countries. The essential oil (EO) composition of its aerial parts has been extensively studied showing noticeable differences according to plant organ (leaves and twigs or fruits), geographical origin and harvest time. In this study, EO composition of leaves of samples coming from two representative habitats from Valencia (Spain) -siliceous (Segart) and calcicolous (Xeraco) soils-were determined by GC/MS and GC/FID. Hydrocarbon monoterpenes was found the major fraction (57.5 %) in calcicolous soil, whereas hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes was in siliceous soil (39.9 %). Oxygenated monoterpenes reached a significant higher amount in leaves from siliceous location (11.2 %) as against calcicolous one (6.7 %). The rate of oxygenated sesquiterpenes was also higher in siliceous soil (15.2 % in contrast to 1.6 % in calcicolous one. These results lead to consider soil parameters as hypothetical source of EO composition variability being the target for further researches.