Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils from the Aerial Parts of <i>Pinus eldarica</i> Grown in Northwestern Iran

• Main Authors: Tayyebeh Ghaffari, Hossein Samadi Kafil, Solmaz Asnaashari, Safar Farajnia, Abbas Delazar, Su Cheol Baek, Hamed Hamishehkar, Ki Hyun Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: <i>Pinus eldarica</i>; essential oil; chemical profile; antimicrobial activity; β-pinene; β-myrcene; caryophyllene; limonene
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/17/3203

<i>Pinus eldarica</i> (Pinaceae), an evergreen plant, is distributed across the warm and dry climates of western Asia, including Asia Minor, the Middle East, and land surrounding the Caspian Sea. Essential oils (EOs) from different aerial parts of this tree have been used in traditional medicine. We aimed to investigate the chemical profile and antimicrobial activity of the EO from <i>P. eldarica</i> grown in northwestern Iran. EO from the needles, bark, and pollen were extracted with boiling water using a Clevenger apparatus at yield of 0.7&#8722;1.2 cm³/100 g of dry plant material. The main chemical components of the EO from the needles were D-germacrene (18.17%), caryophyllene (15.42%), &#947;-terpinene (12.96%), and &#946;-pinene (10.62%); those from the bark were limonene (16.99%), caryophyllene oxide (13.22%), and drimenol (13.2%); and those from the pollen were &#945;-pinene (25.64%) and limonene (19.94%). In total, 83 constituents were characterized in the EOs, using gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis; mainly, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons in needle EO and monoterpene hydrocarbons in pollen and bark EOs. &#946;-Pinene, &#946;-myrcene, limonene, and caryophyllene were identified in the EOs from all three plant parts. The antibacterial and antifungal properties of the EOs were examined: pollen EO exhibited antibacterial activity against <i>Escherichia coli</i>; bark EO inhibited the growth of <i>Candida albicans</i> and <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>; and the needle EO inhibited the growth of <i>S. aureus</i>. Thus, the EOs from aerial parts of <i>P. eldarica</i> can benefit the EO industry and antibiotic development.