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Abstract
The present study evaluates the chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the leaf oil of Artemisia diffusa growing wild in Iran. As well as total phenolic content, ferrous-ion chelating, tyrosinase inhibition and radical scavenging activities of the leaf essential oil of A. diffusa were measured. Camphor (28.30%), 1,8-cineole (21.03%) and β-thujone (14.20%) were the major components in this oil. The largest part of the leaf oil of A. diffusa was formed by oxygenated monoterpenes (75.58%). Kinetics of bacterial death indicated that Candida albicans is the most vulnerable with MIC of 5 mg/mL. The total phenol content of the oil of A. diffusa was estimated to be 194.87 ± 7.64 μg GAE/mg of the oil. The oil of A. diffusa exhibited a dose-dependent scavenging of DPPH, nitric oxide and superoxide anion radicals with IC values of 13.01 mg/mL, 14.35 μg and 41.97 μg, respectively. There was no correlation between ferrous ion chelating activity (IC = 833.13 μg) and total phenolics implying that the oil contains no chelating ligands. Anti-tyrosinase activity of A. diffusa oil at 50% concentration (IC) was 6.08 mg. The essential oil of A. diffusa may be exploited as a natural source of bioactive phytochemicals bearing antimicrobial and antioxidant potentials.