Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, Insecticidal Activity, and Comparative Analysis of Essential Oils of Leaves and Fruits of Schinus molle and Schinus terebinthifolius

Abstract

<i>Schinus terebinthifolius</i> Raddi. and <i>Schinus molle</i> L. are perennial woody plants belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, widely distributed in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and they are broadly used for many applications such as in traditional medicine as an antipyretic, analgesic, depurative, and in the treatment of diseases of the urogenital system as well as culinary and ornamental species. Our work aims to study and compare the chemical composition and the antioxidant and insecticidal activity of the essential oils of the leaves and fruits of the two species of the genus <i>Schinus</i>. The essential oils were characterized by a very spicy aromatic odor, and by the abundance of hydrocarbon monoterpenes in the leaves and fruits of <i>Schinus molle</i> (49.70% and 42.65%), unlike the EOs of the fruits of <i>Schinus terebinthifolius</i> which have a high content in hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes (40.57%). Usually, these oils have shown relatively low antioxidant activity was expressed in IC₅₀; especially, the essential oil of the fruits of <i>S. terebinthifolius</i> revealed a concentration of 3.292 ± 2.82 mg/mL. The evaluation of the insecticidal activity gave good results in the method of exposure of adults of <i>Sitophilus oryzae</i> to EOs by contact; thus, the fruits of <i>Schinus molle</i> are more active against this species of beetle than the other essential oil.