Phytochemical Screening and Wound Healing Activity of the Essential Oil of Pistacia khinjuk

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

University of Basra, College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants

Abstract

The tree or shrub Pistacia khinjuk is a member of the Anarcadiaceae family and is indigenous to Iraq. It is a significant medicinal plant with several pharmacological qualities used in traditional and contemporary medicine, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antihyperlipidemic effects. The current study investigated the chemical components of the essential oil of the fresh fruits of P. khinjuk growing in Sulaymaniah, northern Iraq, considering the body of research on the makeup of the oil that is extracted from this plant's fruits. Fresh fruits from P. khinjuk plants were extracted for three hours using a reflux system, and the constituents were assessed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The findings of the qualitative and quantitative examination of the essential oil are reported, together with the chemical ingredients discovered by HPLC and GC/MS. GC/MS found 21 chemicals in total, with n-hexadecanoic acid (palmitic acid) being the most abundant (46.44%). HPLC identified 5 compounds, including oleic acid as the most abundant. Furthermore, in vitro wound healing assays demonstrated that a concentration of 200 µg/mL of P. khinjuk fruit oil extract resulted in near-complete scratch closure of fibroblast cultures after 72 hours, significantly accelerating wound closure compared to untreated controls. This study represents the first investigation into the wound-healing properties of oil extracted from the fruits of P. khinjuk, highlighting its potential as a novel therapeutic agent.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Rahmani A.F., Sakandari M.N., Mirzaei A., Uçar E. Investigating the Physiological Responses and the Expression of Effective Genes in Steviol Glycosides Production in Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana)', Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops. 2024; 4(3): 126-133. doi: 10.22126/atic.2024.10536.1144
  2. Anwar F., Abbas A., Mehmood T., Gilani A., Rehman N. Mentha: A genus rich in vital nutra‐pharmaceuticals—A review. Phytotherapy Research. 2019;33(10):2548–2570.
  3. Nouri A, Ebadi M., Emam S.M.M, Mirabzadeh Ardakani M. Phytochemical Evaluation and Chemotypic Variations in Improved Cultivars and a Native Landrace of Chamomile. Agrotechniques in Industrial Crops. 2024; doi: 10.22126/atic.2024.10913.1154
  4. Nirmal S.A., Pal S.C., Otimenyin S., Aye T., Elachouri M., Kundu S.K., Thandavarayan R.A., Subhash Mandal S.C. Contribution of herbal products in global market. Pharma Review. 2013;95–104.
  5. Benhammou N., Bekkara F.A., Panovska T.K. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the Pistacia lentiscus and Pistacia atlantica extracts. African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. 2008; 2(2): 22–28.
  6. Mozaffarian V. A dictionary of Iranian plant names. Tehran: Farhang Moaser. 1996;396: 396–398.
  7. Shahid S., Akbar A. Nutritional Value of Pistacia Khinjuk Hull and Kernel Oil. Pak-Euro Journal Medical Life Science. 2022;5(3) 521–528.
  8. Turan M., Kordali S., Zengin H., Dursun A., Sezen Y. Macro and micro mineral content of some wild edible leaves consumed in Eastern Anatolia. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B - Soil & Plant Science. 2003;53(3):129–137.
  9. Alu'datt M.H., Rababah T., Al-Ali S., Tranchant C.C., Gammoh S., Alrosan M., Kubow S., Tan T.C., Ghatasheh S. Current perspectives on fenugreek bioactive compounds and their potential impact on human health: A review of recent insights into functional foods and other high value applications. Food Science. 2024;89(4):1835-1864.doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.16970.
  10. Impact of Climate Change on Pistacia khinjuk as a Medicinal Plant in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Apply Science Research Review. 2019; 6(1):3.
  11. Forest Trees in Iraq, Univ. Mosul, Iraq. 1969.
  12. Crutcher M., Schroeder A., Wagner M., Alsharif B., Boylan F. A Review of the Phytochemical Properties and Pharmacological uses of the Genus Pistacia L. ( Ancardiaceae). Infarma - Ciências Farmacêuticas. 2023;35(3): 285–331.
  13. Tavakoli J., Pazhouhanmehr S. Fatty acid composition of oils from fruits of three Pistacia species growing in Iran. Chemistry of Natural Compounds. 2010;46: 623–624.
  14. Shahid S., Taj S. Antidiabetic activity of extracts of Pistachia khinjuk on alloxan monohydrate induced diabetic mice. In MATEC web of conferences, EDP Sciences. 2019:1006.
  15. Barrientos S., Stojadinovic O., Golinko M.S., Brem H., Tomic‐Canic M. Growth factors and cytokines in wound healing. Wound Repair Regeneration. 2008;16(5):585–601.
  16. Behm D., Colorado J.C. The effectiveness of resistance training using unstable surfaces and devices for rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. 2012;7(2):26.
  17. Friedl P., Wolf K. Plasticity of cell migration: a multiscale tuning model. Journal Cell Biology. 2010;188(1):11–19.
  18. Vedula S.R.K., Ravasio A., Lim C.T., Ladoux B., Collective cell migration: a mechanistic perspective. Physiology. 2013;28(6): 370–379.
  19. Ilina O., Friedl P. Mechanisms of collective cell migration at a glance. Journal Cell Science. 2009;122(18):3203–3208.
  20. Shimizu Y., Boehm H., Yamaguchi K., Spatz J.P., Nakanishi J. A photoactivatable nanopatterned substrate for analyzing collective cell migration with precisely tuned cell-extracellular matrix ligand interactions. PLoS One. 2014;9(3):e91875.
  21. Yarrow J.C., Totsukawa G., Charras G.T., Mitchison T.J. Screening for cell migration inhibitors via automated microscopy reveals a Rho-kinase inhibitor. Chemistry Biology. 2005;12(3):385–395.
  22. Hulkower K.I., Herber R.L. Cell migration and invasion assays as tools for drug discover. Pharmaceutics. 2011;3(1): 107–124.
  23. Pell S.K., Andrews S. Molecular Systematics of the Cashew Family (Ancardiaceae) a Dissertation. 2004.
  24. Hazrati S., Govahi M., Ebadi M.-T., Habibzadeh F. Comparison and evaluation of oil content, composition and antioxidant properties of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk grown as wild. International Journal of Horticultural. Science Technology. 2020;7(2): 165–174.
  25. Al-Seadi H.L., Sabti M.Z., Taain D.A. GC-MS analysis of papaya leaf extract (carica papaya L.). In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, IOP Publishing. 2021:12011.
  26. Pirbalouti A.G., Aghaee K. Chemical composition of essential oil of Pistacia khinjuk Stocks grown in Bakhtiari Zagros Mountains, Iran. Electronic Journal Biology. 2011;7(4):67–69.
  27. Che Zain M.S., Lee S.Y., Sarian M.N., Fakurazi S., Shaari K. In vitro wound healing potential of flavonoid c-glycosides from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) leaves on 3t3 fibroblast cells. Antioxidants. 2020; 9(4):326.
  28. Gunstone F.D., Harwood J.L. The lipid handbook with CD-ROM. CRC Press. 2007.
  29. Zhu Sh., Jiao W., Xu Y., Hou L. Palmitic acid inhibits prostate cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by suppressing the PI3K/Akt pathway. Life Science. 2021;286: 120046.
  30. Sundarraj S., Thangam R., Sreevani V., Kaveri K., Gunasekaran P., Achiraman Sh., Kannan S. γ-Sitosterol from Acacia nilotica L. induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis through c-Myc suppression in MCF-7 and A549 cells. Journal Ethnopharmacology. 2012;141(3):803–809.
  31. Hernandez M.A., Salgado M.A., Portillo R., Petranovskii V., Hernández G.I., Santamaria D., Rubio E. Nanoparticles of γ‐Sitoesterol and Ag on Clinoptilolite Zeolites. Journal Nanomaterial. 2021; 1:9959552.
  32. Balamurugan R., Antony S., Adithan B., @bullet A., Kim J.-H. γ-sitosterol a potent hypolipidemic agent: In silico docking analysis. Medicinal Chemistry Research. 2014;24(1): 124–130.
  33. Sirikhansaeng P., Tanee T., Sudmoon R., Chaveerach A. Major phytochemical as γ‐sitosterol disclosing and toxicity testing in Lagerstroemia species. Evidence‐Based Complementary Alternat Medicine. 2017;1:7209851.
  34. Jin X.-L., Wang K., Li Q., Tian W., Xue X., Wu L., Hu F. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of Chinese propolis during palmitic acid-induced lipotoxicity in cultured hepatocytes. Journal Functional Foods. 2017;34:216–223.
  35. Ishak W.M.W., Katas H., Yuen N.P., Abdullah M.A., Zulfakar M.H. Topical application of omega-3-, omega-6-, and omega-9-rich oil emulsions for cutaneous wound healing in rats. Drug Delivery Translational Research. 2019;9:418–433.
  36. Dahmani M.M., Laoufi R., Selama O., Arab K. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry characterization, anti-inflammatory effect, wound-healing potential, and hair growth-promoting activity of Algerian Carthamus caeruleus L (Asteraceae). Indian Journal Pharmacollogy. 2018;50(3):123-129. doi: 10.4103/ijp.IJP_65_17. PMID: 30166749; PMCID: PMC6106119.
  37. Masunaga A., Kawahara T., Morita H., Nakazawa K., Tokunaga Y., Akita S. Fatty acid potassium improves human dermal fibroblast viability and cytotoxicity, accelerating human epidermal keratinocyte wound healing in vitro and in human chronic wounds. International Wound Journal. 2021;18(4):467-477. doi: 10.1111/iwj.13547. Epub 2021 Jan 12. PMID: 33433959; PMCID: PMC8273623.
  38. Fan Y., Shen J., Liu X., Cui J., Liu J., Peng D., Jin Y. β-Sitosterol Suppresses Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation and Lipogenesis Disorder in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells. International Journal of Molecular Science. 2023;24(19):14644. doi: 10.3390/ijms241914644. PMID: 37834091; PMCID: PMC10572156.
  39. Kazmi I., Afzal M., Al-Abbasi F.A., AlGhamdi S.A., Alghamdi A.M., Alzarea S.I., Almalki W.H., AlGhamdi A.S., Alkinani Kh.B., Sayyed N. Review of the potential pharmacological role of erucic acid: a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2024;397( 6): 3663–3674.
  40. Lin Y., Peng Q. Stearic Acid: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. 2014.
  41. Kim J.H., Kim Y., Kim Y.J., Park Y. Conjugated linoleic acid: potential health benefits as a functional food ingredient. Annual Review Food Science Technology. 2016;7(1):221–244.
Journal of Medicinal plants and By-products
Volume 14, Issue 5
September and October 2025
Pages 418-424

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics