Variability of chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils between Myrtus communis var. Leucocarpa DC and var. Melanocarpa DC

• Published in: Food chemistry 2016-04, Vol.197 (Pt A), p.124-131
• Main Authors: Petretto, Giacomo Luigi, Maldini, Mariateresa, Addis, Roberta, Chessa, Mario, Foddai, Marzia, Rourke, Jonathan P., Pintore, Giorgio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidants - chemistry; Antioxidants - isolation & purification; Biphenyl Compounds - chemistry; Cultivated plants; Free Radicals - chemistry; Fruit - chemistry; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Humans; Italy; Monoterpenes - analysis; Myrtenyl acetate; Myrtus - chemistry; Myrtus - growth & development; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - isolation & purification; PCA; Picrates - chemistry; Plant Components, Aerial - chemistry; Principal Component Analysis; White berries; Wild plants
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.10.056

•A chemical study on sixteen individual plants of M. communis L. was carried out.•Differences in quali-quantitative content were observed between the samples.•M. communis var. leucocarpa DC essential oil is characterized by myrtenil acetate.•PCA proved to be a powerful tool to elaborate essential oils data. Essential oils (EOs) from several individuals of Myrtus communis L. (M. communis) growing in different habitats in Sardinia have been studied. The analyses were focused on four groups of samples, namely cultivated and wild M. communis var. melanocarpa DC, characterized by red/purple berries, and cultivated and wild M. communis var. leucocarpa DC, characterized by white berries. Qualitative and quantitative analyses demonstrated different EO fingerprints among the studied samples: cultivated and wild leucocarpa variety differs mainly from the melanocarpa variety by a high amount of myrtenyl acetate (>200mg/mL and 0.4mg/mL in leucocarpa and melanocarpa varieties respectively). Conversely, the wild group is characterized by a higher amount, compared with the cultivated species, of linalool (about 110mg/mL and 20mg/mL respectively), linalyl acetate (about 24mg/mL and about 6mg/mL respectively) whereas EOs of the cultivated plants were rich in pinocarveol-cis compared with wild plants (about 2mg/mL and about 0.5mg/mL respectively). Principal component analysis applied to the chromatographic data confirm a differentiation and classification of EOs from the four groups of M. communis plants. Finally, antioxidant activity of the studied EOs shows differences between the various categories of samples.