The present study was conducted to know the possible influence of the seed treatment, method of extraction and geographical origin on the quality and chemical composition of argan oil. Artisanally and semiautomatically extracted argan oils, from roasted and unroasted seeds, from interior and coast areas, were studied. The quality parameters analyzed were acid value, peroxide value, K 232 and K 270 , triacylglycerols and fatty acid composition, polar compounds, total phenols, tocopherol content and oil stability index (OSI). Seed treatment and extraction method showed a higher influence on quality parameters than geographical area; the quality parameters of the different oils were discussed. The total phenolic content in all analyzed samples was lower than 10 ppm. g-Tocopherol was the major tocopherol (84.4-86.4%) with a high contribution to the total tocopherol content (383-485 ppm). The OSI of the argan oil samples were well correlated (R = 0.97) with the tocopherol contents. The argan oil samples obtained from roasted seeds presented higher stability (26-38 h) than the oils from unroasted seeds (16-32 h).
Air-dried aerial parts of Pistacia lentiscus L. collected from different regions of Morocco (Mehdia, Oulmes and Chaouen) were water-distilled to produce oil in 0.2% yields. The chemical composition of P. lentiscus oils changes from a region to another. The variations in chemical composition are important between plant populations. A total of 45 constituents were identified. The major oil components of P. lentiscus from Oulmes were α-pinene (16.5-38.5%), β-myrcene (10.2-11.5%) and limonene (6.8-9.8%), while terpinen-4-ol (32.7-43.8%), α-pinene (7.1-13.5%) and bornyl acetate (6.8-10.3%) were the main constituents of Chaouen oil. For P. lentiscus from Mehdia, terpinen-4-ol (14.5-19.3%), caryophyllene oxide (6.5-10.3%) and limonene (6.7-8.1%) were the major components. The effect of harvesting time on the oil production and chemical composition was also examined at different vegetative stages (December-June). For the three locations, the best oil content was obtained during the flowering period March-June.
The Amaryllidaceae family is well known for the presence of an exclusive group of alkaloids with a wide range of biological activities. Narcissus serotinus L. is a plant belonging to this family and its geographical distribution is mainly located along the Mediterranean coast. In the present work, specimens collected near Casablanca (Morocco) were used to study the alkaloid content of this species. Starting with 350 g of the whole plant we used standard extraction and purification procedures to obtain fractions and compounds for GC-MS and NMR analysis. As well as five known alkaloids, we isolated two new compounds: 1-O-(3´-acetoxybutanoyl)lycorine and narseronine. The latter has been previously published, but with an erroneous structure.
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