Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils from the gum of Turkish pistachio (Pistacia vera L.).

The essential oil from the gum of Pistachio (Pistacia vera L. (Anacardiaceae)) grown in Turkey was obtained by the hydro-distillation method, and its chemical composition was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. Moreover, the antimicrobial activities of the oil against the growth of 13 bacteria and 3 pathogenic yeasts were evaluated using the agar-disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods. The results showed that the essential oil contained about 89.67% monoterpenes, 8.1% oxygenated monoterpenes and 1.2% diterpenes. alpha-Pinene (75.6%), beta-pinene (9.5%), trans-verbenol (3.0%), camphene (1.4%), trans-pinocarveol (about 1.20%), and limonene (1.0%) were the major components. The antimicrobial results showed that the oil inhibited nine bacteria and all the yeasts studied, and the activities were considerably dependent upon concentration and its bioactive compounds such as carvacrol, camphene, and limonene. Moreover, the essential oil of the gum was found to be more effective yeastcide than Nystatin, synthetic yeastcide. Furthermore, the antibacterial activities of the oil were lower than those of standard antibiotics, ampicillin sodium, and streptomycine sulfate under the conditions studied.