Profiling of Essential Oils from the Leaves of Pistacia lentiscus Collected in the Algerian Region of Tizi-Ouzou: Evidence of Chemical Variations Associated with Climatic Contrasts between Littoral and Mountain Samples

Abstract

Leaves of Pistacia lentiscus were collected from two Algerian sites in the mountains and the littoral of the Tizi-Ouzou region. The harvest was conducted in four consecutive seasons on the same selected set of trees. Essential oils (EOs) were extracted by hydrodistillation; then, they were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty-seven constituents could be detected and quantified, including α-pinene (2–13%), β-caryophyllene (8–25%), β-myrcene (0.3–19%), bornyl acetate (0.8–7%), δ-cadinene (3–8%), bisabolol (1–9%), β-pinene (0.9–7%), caryophyllene oxide (4–9%), and α-cadinol (3–11%). Antioxidant (AOx) activities of the EOs were assessed by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. Significant differences in EO composition and AOx activities appeared dependent on the season and the site. Variations of AOx activities were significant for the FRAP and ABTS tests but not for DPPH. Characterization of the leaf fatty acyl (FA) profiles was performed by GC-MS. Variability appeared according to season and altitude. Polyunsaturated fatty acids levels were high (27–55%) at the coldest date and place. The levels of linolenic acyl in the leaves were significantly correlated with bisabolol levels in the EOs (Spearman’s correlation coefficient: 0.818). Such results will be useful for the sustainable local valorization of wild P. lentiscus. These data also open new routes for further studies on terpenoid biosynthesis using correlation networks and fluxomic approaches.