Comparative study of two coniferous species (Pinus pinaster Aiton and Cupressus sempervirens L. var. dupreziana [A. Camus] Silba) essential oils: chemical composition and biological activity

Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) and Saharan cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L. var. dupreziana [A. Camus] Silba) are two cone-bearing seed coniferous woody plants. The chemical composition of their essential oils, isolated from needles and leaves by hydrodistillation, was analyzed with gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of 66 and 28 compounds were identified, which represented 99.5% and 98.9% of total pine and cypress oils, respectively. Pinus pinaster oil was found to be rich in alpha-pinene (31.4%), (Z)-caryophyllene (28%), and alpha-humulene (6.7%); it was characterized by relatively high amounts of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (44.5% and 46.3%, respectively). The major components identified in cypress oil were manoyl oxide (34.7%), alpha-pinene (31.8%), alpha-humulene (9%), and delta-3-carene (8.7%). Results of in vitro antifungal test assays showed that both oils significantly inhibit the growth of 10 plant pathogenic fungi. Herbicidal effects of the oils on seed germination, seed vigor, and seedling growth of three common crop weeds Sinapis arvensis L., Phalaris paradoxa L., and Raphanus raphanistrum L. were also determined; the oils completely inhibited seed germination and seedling growth of all the weeds.