Phytochemical Screening and Biological Activity of Female and Male Cones from Pinus nigra subsp. laricio (Poir.) Maire

TL;DR

This study explores the bioactive compounds in female and male cones of Corsican pine, finding potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could be useful for further research.

Contribution

The study provides the first scientific evidence of the bioactive potential of Pinus nigra subsp. laricio cones.

Findings

Female cones had higher antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities.

Male cones showed greater α-amylase inhibition, with the dichloromethane fraction being most potent.

Hexane fraction of female cones exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity.

Abstract

The Corsican pine (Pinus nigra subsp. laricio (Poir.) Maire), a subspecies of black pine endemic to southern Italy, is widely known for the quality of its valuable timber, and the parts of the plant that are not used for this purpose are considered unusable production waste. In this study, we investigated the phytochemical profile and a series of biological activities of extracts from the female and male pine cones. The extracts were prepared by maceration with ethanol and subsequently fractionated using liquid-liquid separation. The total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant potential (DPPH and β-carotene bleaching tests), anti-inflammatory activity (nitric oxide inhibition in RAW 264.7 cells), and enzymatic inhibition against pancreatic lipase and α-amylase were determined. The female cones showed a higher crude extract yield and total phenolic content (76.4 mg GAE/g) than the male cones, while the latter were richer in flavonoids. The extracts from the female cones showed higher antioxidant and pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities. On the contrary, extracts from male cones showed greater activity against α-amylase, with the dichloromethane fraction proving to be the most potent (IC50 = 35.28 ± 3.08 µg/mL). The hexane fraction of female cones also showed significant anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 = 107.50 ± 15.22 µg/mL). Our results reveal that the pine cones of Pinus nigra subsp. laricio (Poir.) Maire are a rich source of bioactive compounds. These results provide the first scientific evidence of the potential of extracts from this still poorly studied part of the plant for further investigation of their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities.

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