Chemical composition of the essential oils of Pistacia lentiscus L. from Algeria

The essential oils of Pistacia lentiscus L. from three regions of Algeria (Algiers, Tizi-Ouzou and Oran) were isolated from aerial parts by hydrodistillation and were investigated by GC and GC/MS. Longifolene was predominant in the oils from Algiers (12.8%) and Tizi-Ouzou (16.4%), while alpha-pinene (19.0%) was the major constituent of the Oran oil. The other compounds of oils were present in important amounts; Algiers oil: gamma-cadinene (6.2%), trans-beta-terpineol (5.0%) and alpha-acorneol (4.6%); Tizi-Ouzou oil: trans-beta-terpineol (15.6%), terpinen-4-ol (7.0%) and gamma-muurolene (5.7%); Oran oil: trans-beta-terpineol (13.1%), sabinene (12.6%) and beta-pinene (6.5%). A comparison with oils from P. lentiscus of other countries reported in literature shows both qualitative and quantitative differences.