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Anatomical variability of Pinus brutia Ten. essential oils
* 1, 2 , 3 , 4
1  INIAV, I.P., National Institute for Agrarian and Veterinarian Research, Quinta do Marquês, 2780-159 Oeiras, Portugal.
2  MED, Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Évora University, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
3  Plant Metabolomics Laboratory, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier (ITQB NOVA), Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal.
4  Laboratory of Paleobotany and Palynology, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5 00185, Rome, Italy.
Academic Editor: Miha Humar

Abstract:

Pinus brutia Ten., commonly known as Brutian pine, Calabrian pine or Turkish pine, is a member of the Pinaceae family, and is largely distributed throughout the eastern part of the Mediterranean, mainly in Turkey and bordering countries. Over the last years, P. brutia has increased its economic importance, due to a rapid spread over the Mediterranean Basin and for providing raw materials with high economic value, namely wood, bark, cones, extracted oleoresin and essential oils (EO). Pine EOs are obtained by hydro‐, steam‐ or dry distillation, and are mostly comprised of one to three major volatile compounds, commonly mono‐, sesqui‐ or diterpenes and phenylpropanoids. Terpenoids have high‐value commercial uses in industrial and household cleaning products, disinfectants, solvents, fragrances, medicine, and aromatherapy. Additionally, pine EOs possess significant biological activities as repellents, insecticides, antivirals, antimicrobials and antioxidants. The present work reviewed the chemical variability of EOs reported for different parts of P. brutia trees and tree products, namely needles, twigs, resins, cones, flowers, bark, sawdust and seeds. The major components reported for P. brutia EOs (≥ 20 %) were the bicyclic monoterpenes α-pinene, β-pinene and δ-3-carene, that generally comprised 50 – 90 % of EO composition. The hydrocarbon δ-3-carene showed the highest variability between samples of the same pine organ, suggesting the occurrence of chemotypes in P. brutia. The presence of α-pinene in relative amounts ≥ 20 % was reported for resin, cone, flower, sawdust and seed EOs, while β-pinene in relative amounts ≥ 20 % was reported for EOs of P. brutia needles, twigs, cones, flowers and seeds. Assessing the variability of EOs extracted from different tree parts or tree products can provide useful information for guided P. brutia EO extraction, according to its intended purpose.

Keywords: chemical diversity; chemotypes; essential oil; Pinus brutia; volatiles; α-pinene; β-pinene; δ-3-carene
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