n-Alkanes in the needle waxes of Pinus heldreichii var. pančići

Abstract

This is the first report of n-alkanes in needle epicuticular waxes of the variety Bosnian pine, Pinus heldreichii var. pančići. n-Hexane extracts of needle samples, originating from seven isolated localities in Serbia, were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results evidenced n-alkanes ranging from C18 to C33 in epicuticular waxes. The most abundant alkanes were C27, C23, C25 and C29 (12.53 %, 12.46 %, 12.00 % and 10.38 % on average, respectively). The carbon preference index (CPItotal) of Pinus heldreichii var. pančići ranged from 1.1 to 2.1 (1.6 on average), while the average chain length (ACLtotal) ranged from 25.0 to 25.8 (25.3 on average). A high level of individual quantitative variation in all of these hydrocarbon parameters was also found. The obtained results were compared with the bibliographic references for Pinus heldreichii var. leucodermis and other species of the Pinus genus.

Keywords

• Bosnian pine
• Pinaceae
• needles
• n-alkanes