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Abstract
The chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil from the aerial parts of Rumex obtusifolius L. were studied. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this essential oil has never been fully characterized. The component analysis of the essential oil was done by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and mass selective detector (GC-MS). A total of 104 compounds, representing 97.8% of the essential oil, were identified. Aliphatic compounds, mainly methyl ketones (74.2%) and monoterpene hydrocarbons (13.7%) were found to be the most abundant compounds. The major compounds were undecan-2-one (47.6%) and nonan-2-one (13.4%). The antioxidant activity of the essential oil, evaluated by DPPH (IC50 9.11 mg/mL) and ABTS (IC50 36.72 mg/mL) assays, exhibited a weak ability in scavenging radicals. The essential oil also showed a low ferric reducing activity. The essential oil exhibited very good activity against E. coli and S. aureus, but low activities against S. enterica serovar, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans. MIC values of the essential oil varied from 0.38-27.04 μL/mL, with the lowest for E. coli.