Abstract

Essential oils are aromatic compounds widely used in the perfumery, pharmaceutical and food industries. There are several methods to extract essential oils and extracts. These methods include distillation, pressure or scraping, pressing and razor technique, headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME), solvent extraction, extraction by bioactive hydrolyzing enzymes, and CO2 extraction. The aim of this study was to investigate the amounts of active ingredients of essential oils of medicinal plants Ziziphus nummularia and Ziziphus spina-christi by HS-SPME so that it can more easily move towards production of effective herbal remedies by identifying the main and active ingredients of the plants. The main chemical compound of Z. spina-christi essential oil was found to be transcaryophyllene (17.31), followed by alpha-pinene (15.50), beta-caryophyllene (10.86), and betapinene (7.32). The main compound of Z. nummularia essential oil was tetradecane (16.76), followed by hexadecane (9.35), dl-limonene (5.75), cyclohexan-1-ol, 3 meth (5.54), transcaryophyllene (5.47), and beta-myrcene (5.28). Chemical compounds of Ziziphus spina-christi included carbobicyclic or bicycleheptane, sesquiterpenes derived from germacrene, bicyclic monoterpenes, and monoterpenes, while the main compounds of Z. nummularia included monoterpenes, aliphatic hydrocarbons, alkane hydrocarbons, primary terpene compounds, and decarbonated alcohol. Identification of chemical and biological constituents of essential oils of medicinal plants is a valuable way to identify medicinal compounds that can be used to treat diseases by combining the traditional effects and the main compounds in the experimental pharmacy studies. © 2020 Bahmani et al.