Abstract This work was carried out within the framework of the valorization of the Moroccan aromatic and medicinal plants, we chose to study Pistacia atlantica Desf. whose use for a long time by the populations, in the nutrition and the traditional medicine.
The objective of this study is to determine the yield of Pistacia atlantica Desf. fruit essential oil (PAEO) extracted by the hydrodistillation method and to investigate the chemical composition by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS).The central nervous system (CNS) activity of PAEO was investigated using different models based on mice and rats behavior and anti-inflammatory effect were performed using the carrageenan induced hind paw edema test.
Pistacia atlantica Desf provided a 0.058% yield of essential oil with constituents representing approximately 97.35% of the total oil, the major compounds are: anisole (25.62%), cineol (1.4) (16.88%), sabinene (14.45%) and cresylacetate para (8.55%).
In the pharmacological activities tests it was found that the pretreatment of Pistacia atlantica Desf. fruit essential oil has a potent sedative and anti-inflammatory properties.
Keywords Pistacia atlantica Desf, essential oil, yield, GC/MS, psychotropic, anti-inflammatory.