Evaluation of the volatile and chiral composition in Pistacia lentiscus L. essential oil

In the present research, the chemical composition of the volatiles present in the fresh leaves and twigs of Pistacia lentiscus L. was determined by using GC-FID and GC-MS. In past years the oil was employed in the perfumery, food and pharmaceutical industries, while recently it has been re-evaluated as a flavouring in alcoholic beverages and chewing gums, due to the natural production of the exudate called 'mastic gum'. The present study was carried out on Sicilian plants with the aim of integrating the already existing information on the chemical composition of the oil. The oil samples were obtained using traditional hydrodistillation (HD) and simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE). For the first time, the enantiomeric distribution of 17 chiral couples by means of enantioselective multidimensional gas chromatography (Es-MDGC), was determined. The results showed that more compounds were detected in the SDE extract (96 components) than in the HD extract (62 components). Several minor components contained in the HD product probably contribute significantly to its aromatic properties and could be useful for chemotaxonomic characterization. P. lentiscus L. leaf and twig oil, although not considered until now, could be employed as a flavour contributor or as food preservative. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.