Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and essential oils of conifers are widely used in
the pharmaceutical industry. This work aimed to analyze the VOCs of 30 conifer species
representing the Pinaceae and Cupressaceae families. Samples were collected from arboreta
in Hungary, and their chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography (SPME-GC/MS);
then, chemometric analyses were performed using multivariate methods to identify characteristic
VOCs of conifers. Here, we present results for monoterpene and sesquiterpene profiles
of the examined conifer samples. The most abundant compounds detected were α-pinene,
bornyl acetate, limonene, β-pinene, β-caryophyllene, β-myrcene, δ-3-carene, and β-phellandrene.
The results showed that the following volatiles were characteristic of the conifer
groups: sabinene (RRT=6.0) for the cupressoid group (which includes the Cupressaceae
species), longifolene (RRT=15.0) and β-pinene (RRT=6.1) were characteristic of the
pinoid group (including Picea , Pinus , and Pseudotsuga species), and camphene (RRT=5.5)
and bornyl acetate (RRT=12.6) were characteristic of the abietoid group (including
Abies , Cedrus , and Tsuga species). Our results on VOCs in the Pinaceae and Cupressaceae
families contribute to the elucidation of biodiversity patterns of conifer species
and, in addition, may support the industrial application of terpenes.
