Seed Characteristics and Terpene Variability of Mediterranean Fir Species (<i>Abies nebrodensis</i>, <i>A. pinsapo</i>, and <i>A. alba</i>)
Waed Tarraf | Tolga İzgü | Carla Benelli | Gabriele Cencetti | Marco Michelozzi | Alfonso Crisci
Most fir species in the Mediterranean have small to medium-sized distributions, are often endemic and endangered, and are mainly found in relict areas, except for <i>Abies alba</i>. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified <i>Abies nebrodensis</i> as the rarest conifer in the world, with only 30 adult trees remaining. Additionally, <i>Abies pinsapo</i> is threatened and limited to five fragmented locations in Spain and Morocco. This study aimed to characterize the seed terpene profiles of Mediterranean <i>Abies</i> species, such as <i>A. nebrodensis</i>, <i>A. pinsapo</i>, and <i>A. alba</i>, since morphological results showed minimal variation among the <i>Abies</i> populations examined. Terpenes were extracted using n-heptane and then analyzed by GC-MS. The chemical composition revealed the dominance of limonene and α-pinene as the main monoterpenes in all the species, while <i>A. nebrodensis</i> reported the considerable presence of germacrene D-4-ol and selina-6-en-4-ol as sesquiterpenes. The relative contents of most of the terpenes were significantly different among the species, and subsequent statistical multivariate analysis showed clear discrimination among three distinct groups. These results confirmed the suitability of the terpene profile as a potential tool to study chemotaxonomic differences between species from the same family. Moreover, the compounds identified can be interesting for further studies on plant defense against biotic stress to reduce the risk of species extinction caused by pests and diseases.
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