Volatile constituents of Pinus needle oils

✍ Scribed by Olusegun Ekundayo

• Book ID: 102839445
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 686 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0882-5734
• DOI: 10.1002/ffj.2730030102

✦ Synopsis

Pinus is a genus of 105 species which are distributed in the northern hemisphere and cultivated in the southern hemisphere. The composition of turpentine from Pinus species has been extensively studied, but there is a comparative paucity of reports on the constituents of the needle oils. The available literature on the terpenoid composition of Pinus needle oils is reviewed in this paper. About fiftytwo lower terpenoids have been found in the essential oils which are predominantly monoterpenoid in nature. The ubiquity of seven monoterpene hydrocarbons could be discerned: these typical Pinus needle oil constituents are a-and P-pinenes, camphene, limonene, p-phellandrene, car-3-ene and myrcene. Sesquiterpenes and oxygenated compounds are minor constituents. Notable compounds in this class are 6-cadinene, caryophyllene, bornyl acetate, a-terpineol and cy-cadinol.

The needle oil composition is generally characterized by considerable qualitative and quantitative variations which are valuable in the chemotaxonomic studies of Pinus genus. The limited resource potentials of the needle oils are briefly evaluated.