Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Pistacia vera L. Leaves oil

The pistachio industry in Tunisia generates a high amount of waste every year due to the large pistachio production. This, together with the good properties of the compounds that can be extracted from these by-products, makes a comprehensive study of their potential necessary. One of the most common waste products is leaves. Because of that, the goal of this work was to evaluate Pistacia vera L. leaves oil. Two conventional extraction methods were conducted (Soxhlet and hydro-distillation), and the extracted oils were compared. Several compounds were identified by gas chromatography that were found to be different in the two oils. Then, the potential of these extracts as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents was studied. The results confirmed the good properties of both extracts, with greater biological activity in the extracts obtained by hydro-distillation. The results confirm Pistacia vera L. leaves as a potential raw material to provide natural compounds with biological properties, which can be used in several industries.