Chemical composition of the essential oil of Pistacia lentiscus L.

The chemical composition of the essential oils, obtained by separate distillation of the leaves, branches and fruits of Pistacia lentiscus from Tuscany (Italy), was analyzed and identified by GC and GC/MS. The leaf oil contained ?-pinene (16.1-25.3%), limonene (6.6-12.3%), terpinen-4-ol (7.6-12.7%) and germacrene D (9.6-14.3%) as major components. The branch oil contained ?-pinene (34.4-46.2%), myrcene (6.3-11.6%) and limonene (8.1-13.0%), while the fruit oil contained ?-pinene (7.5-11.2%), myrcene (68.2-71.0%) and limonene (9.6-19.7%) as major constituents. Little differences in composition were found between samples collected in different seasons and years, while epigenetic variations were observed for samples of oils from different sources.