Comparison of the Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils from the Leaves and Flowers of Sambucus nigra

Essential oils of Sambucus nigra were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed using the GC-MS technique, which led to the identification and quantification of 66 components from the leaves and 74 components from the flowers, accounting for 94.0 and 96.4% of the total components, respectively. The main class of compounds present in the leaves were fatty acids and their derivatives: methyl linoleate, palmitic acid, hydrocarbon tritetracontane, and an aromatic compound benzoic aldehyde. In the flowers there were hydrocarbons: tritetracontane and n-hexatriacontane, fatty acids and their derivatives: palmitic acid and linoleic acid, and alcohols: 2-methyl-3,15-octadecadienol and 2-hexyl-1-octanol. Among the dominant components of the essential oil of S. nigra flowers, there were also monoterpenes such as rose oxide, epoxylinalol, while the essential oil of the leaves contained a few compounds of monoterpenes in small amounts such as β-pinene and α-pinene. Antioxidant activity of the obtained essential oils was determined by the FRAP and DPPH assay techniques.