Abstract
The essential oils (EOs) of different organs (flowers, vegetative parts (stems + leaves) and roots) of Achillea cretica were investigated. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils were also evaluated. They have been analyzed by a combination of GC and GC/MS. Twenty-five, twenty-nine and twenty-five compounds, accounting for 97.9%, 98.80% and 96.20% of the root, (stem + leaf), and flower oils, were identified, respectively. The EOs were rich in monoterpenes (camphor, borneol, camphene and 1,8-cineola) and camphor was identified as a major constituent. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH, ABTS and ferric reducing assays. The isolated oils showed significant radical-scavenging activity evidenced by IC50 value for ABTS radical (in between IC50 =62 µg/mL and IC50 = 70 µg/mL). The antibacterial activity was tested against two Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacteria using the broth dilution method. The flowers essential oil shows an excellent inhibitory effect on S. aureus.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to express their gratitude to King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia for providing administrative and technical support.