Aleppo pine needles: extraction, identification and application

Pinus Halepensis needles are the most abundant tree in the Tazekka national park in the Taza province - Fès-Meknès-Maroc region. They are an ideal matrix for long-term monitoring of semi-volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, as they are natural and distributed worldwide.The aim of this study is to enhance the value of Pinus Halepensis needles by characterizing the plant material through measurement of physico-chemical parameters and spectroscopy prior to extraction, extraction of essential oil, identification of essential oil composition and study of two antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation. Identification of the composition was determined bygas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Antioxidant activity was determined by the DPPH method. Antibacterial activity was tested by disk diffusion against two pathological strains, Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli.