*2.2. Extraction of Essential Oils and Their Fractions*

Essential oils were obtained via steam distillation in a 0.4 m<sup>3</sup> stainless steel column using fresh and mature *L. alba* leaves, and were separated by decantation. Subsequently, they were dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored at 4 ◦C in amber flasks. The EOs were fractionated by reduced pressure distillation in a B/R Instruments (Easton, MD, USA) 800 high-efficiency microdistillation device, and enriched in the bioactive terpene (limonene). The F1 fraction rich in limonene was collected at a temperature of 67 ◦C and pressure of 12 Torr during distillation of the carvone-chemotype EOs, then stored in amber glass at 4 ◦C for later analysis.
