Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Volatile Extracts from Leaves and Fruits of Schinusterebinthifolius Raddi from Tunisia Alessandra Piras, Hanen Marzouki, Danilo Falconieri, Silvia Porcedda, Maria José Gonçalves, Carlos Cavaleiro and Ligia Salgueiro Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato, SP Monserrato-Sestu km 0,700, 09042, Monserrato, Italy Laboratory of Transmissible Diseases and Biologically Active Substances, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale “Michele Giua”, Via Montecassino, 09100 Cagliari, Italy Faculdade de Farmacia/ CEF and CNC, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal Abstract: Volatile oils composition from leaves and ripe fruits of pink pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi) growing in Tunisia were investigated using GC-FID and GC-MS techniques. Volatile oil extraction was achieved by hydrodistillation (HD) using a Clevenger apparatus and by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using carbon dioxide. All plant organs, gave SFE extracts chiefly composed by a -pinene, a -phellandrene, b -phellandrene, germacrene D and bicyclogermacrene. In the case of the fruits, both extraction techniques gave volatile oils of similar composition; whereas the comparison between the HD and SFE leave oils revealed important differences in the content of a -pinene (6.1 % vs traces), a -phellandrene (22.7 % vs 0.8 %) and b -phellandrene (14.6 % vs 1.2 %). All volatile samples were evaluated against yeasts and dermatophyte strains, being more active against Cryptococcus neoformans, particularly the volatile oil from the fruits, with MIC values of (0.32-0.64) mg/mL.Moreover, this oil revealed an inhibitory effect on germ tube formation in C. albicans at sub-inhibitory concentration. At the concentration of MIC/8 the inhibition of filamentation was more than 70 %. Keywords: Schinus terebinthifolius ; supercritical carbon dioxide extracts; essential oil; antifungal activity. © 2016 ACG Publications. All rights reserved. |