Changes in Essential Oil Composition During Pistacia vera Leaves Development in Sfax Region (Tunisia)

Essential oil extraction from leaves of Pistacia vera was performed in order to asses its composition and follow its variability according to the leaf development. Volatile compounds were obtained by hydrodistillation followed by liquid-liquid extraction. Terpinen-4-ol (2.9-12.3 %) and alpha-terpineol (0.014.0 %) were the most abundant compounds except on 30th June where alpha-terpinolene (17.0 %) and alpha-pinene (14.9 %) were the main compounds. The main chemical classes were oxygenated monoterpenes and monoterpene hydrocarbons. The preponderance of terpinen-4-ol in most cases instead of alpha-pinene as cited in other works may characterize Tunisian samples. Furthermore, many volatile compounds identified in the EO of P. vera leaves are well-known for their biological activities, e.g. alpha-terpineol, borneol, limonene, alpha-pinene, farnesol. From a fundamental point of view, EO composition determination opens many perspectives either for bioactive molecules isolation or for the chemical ecology comprehension of these secondary metabolites.