Pistachio Tree As a Source of Bioactive Molecules With Biological Properties

Abstract

Recently, research on plants has increased in order to substitute synthetic products coming from non-renewable sources with products from biomass, particularly agricultural waste. The production of pistachio in Tunisia generates a large amount of potentially valuable waste such as leaves. The purpose of this work was to determine the total phenolics, flavonoids, and condensed tannins contents and evaluate the biological activity of the pistachio tree leaves. The chromatographic analysis was used in order to identify bioactive compounds of the extracts. There was significant difference in the amounts of phenolic compounds of male and female leaves and similar results in the amounts of flavonoids and condensed tannins. The extracts revealed good biological activities. The results highlighted the main identified compounds as Gallic acid (7.19%), Levoglucosan (43.38%), and Linolenic acid (7.57%). Finally, Pistachio tree leaves could be considered as a cheap source of bio-compounds with anti-radical potential and antimicrobial effect.