Variability of Pinus halepensis Mill. Essential Oils and Their Antioxidant Activities Depending on the Stage of Growth During Vegetative Cycle.

The impact of growth stages during vegetative cycle (B0  - B5 ) on chemical composition and antioxidant activities of Pinus halepensis Mill. needles essential oils was investigated for the first time. GC and GC/MS analyses pointed to a quantitative variability of components; terpene hydrocarbons derivatives, represented by α-pinene (8.5 - 12.9%), myrcene (17.5 - 21.6%), p-cymene (7.9 - 11.9%) and (Z)-β-caryophyllene (17.3 - 21.2%) as major components, decreased from 88.9% at B0 growth stage to 66.9% at B5 growth stage, whereas oxygenated derivatives, represented by caryophyllene oxide (5.4 - 12.6%) and terpinen-4-ol (0.4 - 3.3%) as major components, increased from 7% at B0 growth stage to 28.4% at B5 growth stage. Furthermore, our findings showed that essential oil of P. halepensis needles collected at B5 growth stage possess higher antioxidant activities by four different testing systems than those collected at B0  - B4 growth stages. This highlighted variability led to conclude that we should select essential oils to be investigated carefully depending on growth stage, in order to have the highest effectiveness of essential oil in terms of biological activities for human health purposes.