Chemical composition and antioxidant activities of two artemisia essential oils from Algeria

Abstract

In this study, the essential oils (EOs) from the aerial parts of two Algerian plants namely; Artemisia campestris and Artemisia herba-alba (Asteraceae family), were obtained by hydro-distillation and investigated via gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometry system (GC/MS) for their chemical composition. Also, the EOs have been tested for their in vitro antioxidant activity via 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric-reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP), and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assays, while total phenolic content (TPC) was determined via using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. GC-MS analyses revealed that  a total number of 44 and 45 compounds were identified in EOs of A. Campestris and  A.  herba-alba, representing 99.1% and 92.2%98.5% of the total oils compositions, respectively. A. campestris EO mainly composed of  ?-pinene (20.7%), limonene (11.3%), ?-terpinene (11.0%) and ?-pinene (9.2%). A.  herba-alba EO contains main components like davanone D (49.5%) and camphor (10.0%).  The DPPH SC₅₀ values were ranged from 2.61 to 91.25 mg/mL, FRAP values were ranged from 8.17 to 0.97 µmol Trolox equivalents (TX)/g sample, the ABTS values were ranged from 7.01 to 2.40 µmol TX/g sample, while TPCs values were ranged from 9.40 to 0.49 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g sample.