Chemical composition of the essential oils from the gum and from various parts of <i>Pistacia lentiscus</i> l. (mastic gum tree)

Abstract

Abstract The chemical composition of the essential oils isolated by extraction of mastic gum and by hydrodistillation from leaves, and unripe and ripe fruits of Pistacia lentiscus L. was studied. Up to 250 constituents were detected in the oils. From these components, about 90 could be identified and quantified, comprising over 95% of the oils. The gum oil contained 90% monoterpene hydrocarbons, and the leaf oil 50% monoterpene hydrocarbons, 20% oxygen‐containing monoterpenes and 25% sesquiterpenes, whereas the fruit oils consisted of 90–96% monoterpene hydrocarbons and 2–3% sesquiterpenes. The main constituents of the gum oil were: 79% α‐pinene and 3% β‐myrcene; of the leaf oil: 11% α‐pinene and 19% β‐myrcene; of the unripe‐fruit oil: 22% α‐pinene and 54% β‐myrcene, and of the ripe‐fruit oil: 11% α‐pinene and 72% β‐myrcene. α‐Terpineol and terpinen‐4‐ol (together 15%) were the dominant monoterpene alcohols in the leaf oil. Undecan‐2‐one (0.1–0.6%) seems to be an olfactively important constituent of the oils. Dimyrcene (four isomers) occurred (0.5‐4.4%) in all the oils.