Chemical Composition of Pistacia terebinthus L. and its Phytochemical and Biological Properties

Abstract

Vitamin C, enzyme activities, phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity, and essential oil analyses of ripe and unripe fruits of P. terebinthus were investigated. Vitamin C amounts of ripe and unripe fruits were 63.2 and 15.4 mg/100g, respectively. The main phenolic compounds of unripe and ripe fruits are rutin, syringic acid, and gallic acid. It was determined that the enzyme inhibitor activities in the ripe and unripe fruits were 0.136 mg/mL and 2.14 mg/mL. In all of the free radical scavenging (DPPH and ABTS) activity, ferric (III) ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) capacity, total phenolic substance amounts (TPC), total flavonoid substance amounts (TFC), and total antioxidant activity (TAC) antioxidant methods analyzed with plant parts, the methanol extracts obtained from the ripe fruits of the P. terebinthus showed higher antioxidant properties than the methanol extracts obtained from the unripe fruits. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 showed antimicrobial activity against microorganisms, while methanol extracts obtained from unripe fruit samples did not show antimicrobial activity against the microorganisms used. The chemical grade with the most compounds in the essential oils of P. terebinthus were monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenes, and monoterpenes in unripe and ripe fruits, respectively. The main components were α-pinene with 22.8% and 27.3% ratios in unripe and ripe fruits, respectively.