The essential oils extracted from different organs of Pinus halepensis were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS and evaluated for their antioxidant and anti-acetylcholinesterase and anti-butyrylcholinesterase activities. The composition and biological activities of essential oils extracted from immature cones, juvenile needles and male inflorescences were analyzed for the first time. The common compounds of the investigated essential oils were α-pinene (6.4 to 46.1 %), β-myrcene (5.5 to 28.3 %), β-caryophyllene (1.3 to 32.8 %), β-caryophyllene oxide (2.7 to 66.6 %) and α-humulene (2.4 to 5.8 %). Significant variations of essential oil composition were detected between the investigated plant parts. The analyzed essential oils exhibited antioxidant and anticholinesterase activities. These activities varied significantly among organs. The essential oil of needles showed the highest antiradical activity with DPPH assay (0.31 mg eq Trolox/g EO). However, for ABTS radical scavenging assay, juvenile needles showed the uppermost antioxidant activity (2.52 mg eq Trolox/g EO). Male inflorescences possessed the most important chelating activity (267.43 mg eq EDTA/g EO). Essential oils of juvenile needles exhibited the highest antiacetylcholinesterase activity (1.37 mg eq dopenzil/g EO). Male inflorescences revealed the most important activity against butyrylcholinesterase (57.442 mg eq dopenzil/g EO).

1. Oaks, belonging to the Quercus genus, are extensively distributed in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, encompassing regions such as Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia, a...

Pine seeds are known for their richness in lipid compounds and other healthy substances. However, the reference procedures that are commonly applied for their analysis are quite laborious, time-consuming, and expensive. Therefore, it is important to develop rapid, accurate, multi-parametric, cost-effective and, essentially, environmentally friendly analytical techniques that are easily implemented at an industrial scale. The viability of using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to analyse the seed lipid content and profile of three different pine species (Pinus halepensis, Pinus brutia and Pinus pinaster) was investigated. Moreover, species discrimination using NIR was also attempted. Different chemometric models, namely partial least squares (PLS) regression, for lipid analysis, and partial least square—discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), for pine species discrimination, were applied. In relation to the discrimination of pine seed species, a total of 90.5% of correct classification rates were obtained. Regarding the quantification models, most of the compounds assessed yielded determination coefficients (R²_P) higher than 0.80. The best PLS models were obtained for total fat, vitamin E, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, C20:2, C20:1n9, C20, C18:2n6c, C18:1n9c, C18 and C16:1. Globally, the obtained results demonstrated that NIR spectroscopy is a suitable analytical technique for lipid analysis and species discrimination of pine seeds.

Background: Myrtus communis L. is a typical aromatic species of the Mediterranean basin, whose leaves are rich in essential oil known for its biological properties. Methods: The essential oil of Tunisian Myrtus communis L. leaves was extracted via hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus and optimized using a complete factorial design including three factors with two different modalities and one factor with three modalities, hence the total number of experiments N_total = 2³ × 3¹. This optimization concerns the yield, the terpene composition by GC-MS and the antioxidant activity by the two radical scavenging assays, DPPH and ABTS. Four factors were retained, namely, the type of leaf used (dry or fresh sample), the leaf granulometry (whole or ground), the extraction time (1 h 30 min, 2 h 30 min and 3 h 30 min) and the water volume/plant material ratio (1/4 and 1/10). Results: The dry and whole leaves, duration 3 h 30 min, and V/M 1/10 modalities gave the best yield of essential oil (0.77%). The optimal contents of the majority of the terpene compounds, 1,8-cineole (37.23%), α-pinene (54.79%), myrtenyl acetate (23.43%) and limonene (17.77%), were recorded using the modalities dry and whole leaves, duration 2 h 30 min, V/M 1/10; dry and ground leaves, duration 1 h 30 min, V/M 1/4; fresh and whole leaves, duration 3 h 30 min, V/M 1/4; and fresh and whole leaves, duration 3 h 30 min, V/M 1/4, respectively. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil of myrtle leaves was optimized for the two DPPH (7.477 mg TE/g EO) with the GDL, duration 3 h 30 min, V/M 1/4 and ABTS assays (14.053 mg TE/g EO) with WDL terms, duration 3 h 30 min, V/M 1/10. Conclusions: Optimizing essential oil extraction is of significant interest to the cosmetic, perfumery, and pharmaceutical industries, which are constantly seeking optimal conditions to enhance essential oil yield and to ensure a high concentration of terpenic compounds, valued for their aromatic qualities and diverse biological activities.