Chemical composition and herbicidal effects of Pistacia lentiscus L. essential oil against weeds

The aims of this study were designed to examine the chemical composition of the hydrodistillated essential oil obtained from the leaves of Pistacia lentiscus L. and to evaluate their herbicidal effects against germination and seedling growth of four weeds (Sinapis arvensis, Trifolium campestre, Phalaris canariensis and Lolium rigidum). GC and GC–MS analysis of the essential oil were resulted in determination of 27 different components representing 98.9% of the total oil. α-pinene (20.6%), limonene (15.3%), β-pinene (9.6%) followed by germacrene D (8.4%) and terpen-4-ol (8.2%) were determined as the major compounds of the oil. On the other hand, essential oils of Pistacia lentiscus have shown very important herbicidal activities with a special attention for the inhibition of all weeds germination and seedling growth. In fact, at the dose of 3μl/ml, germination of T. campestre. P. canariensis and L. rigidum was totally inhibited and only reduced to 18.33% for S. arvensis and the phytotoxic effects of the oil exceeds the activity of the synthetic herbicide (2,4-D, isooctyl ester). In the light of these findings, we suggested that P. lentiscus essential oil may be considered as an interesting source of bio-herbicide components used as potent agents in weeds control