Fatty acids analysis of four Pistacia species by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry via multivariate chemometrics

Pistacia species are widely used in traditional medicine, particularly for wound healing. This study investigated the fatty acid composition of fruits from four Pistacia species collected from various regions of Algeria. Dried fruits of Pistacia lentiscus L. were extracted using hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus. The extracted lipids were subjected to acid hydrolysis and then converted into their corresponding methyl esters by refluxing with methanolic sulfuric acid prior to analysis. These methylated fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The major fatty acids identified were oleic acid (C18:1n9c), palmitic acid (C16:0), linoleic acid (C18:2n6c), palmitoleic acid (C16:1), and stearic acid (C18:0). Multivariate statistical analysis using R software (version 4.3.3), including principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering, was applied to explore patterns among the fatty acid profiles. Oleic acid was dominant in PL3 (51.18%), linoleic acid in PL1 (21.86%), and palmitoleic acid in PL2 (3.26%). These findings support the ethnomedicinal relevance of Pistacia species and provide the first detailed chemometric profiling of their fruit fatty acid content