Chemical composition of the essential oils from oleoresin on cones of Cedrus libani

The essential oil from the oleoresin of the female cones of C. libani A. Rich. (Pinaceae) grown in Turkey was obtained by the hydro-distillation method and its chemical composition was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. By these methods, about 91% of the compounds in the oil were identified and some high boiling compounds could not be identified. The results showed that the essential oil contained about 38.48% monoterpenes, 33.70% diterpenes, 11.77% oxygenated monoterpenes, 4.67% sesquiterpenes and 0.33% of sesquiterpene alcohols. Major components of the oil are as follows: a-pinene (24.78%), abieta-7,13-diene (16.67%), abieta-8,11,13-triene (6.85%), manool (5.83%) and terpinen-4-ol (3.74%), alpha-terpineol (3.42%), p-cymene (2.89%) and limonene (2.69%). The antimicrobial tests indicated that the oil inhibited all the bacteria and yeasts studied and the activities of the oil against the microorganisms greatly depend on concentration.