Antioxidant, anticholinesterase, and antibacterial activities of essential oils and methanol extract of Carduncellus pinnatus (Desf.)DC. growing in Algeria

The essential oil was obtained by separate hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Carduncellus pinnatus (Desf.) DC. (Asteraceae) and was analyzed by means of gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Hundred and four compounds were detected, accounting for 95.29 % of the total oil, which is characterized by a high content of non-terpene derivatives (33.39%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (32.03%). The main constituents of the essential oil from the aerial parts were caryophyllene oxide (23.12%), (E)-2-hexenal (8.35%), (E)-β-ionone (6.01%), (E)-geranylacetone (2.96%), and nonanal (2.65%). Additionally, β-Carotene-linoleic acid test system, DPPH free radical scavenging assay and ABTS cation radical scavenging assay were tested for the study of antioxidant activity of plant methanol extract and essential oil. The MeOH extract of aerial parts exhibited a strong antioxidant activity evidenced by the ABTS cation radical scavenging assay, with IC50 values of 44.509 ± 1.149 μg/ml. In the DPPH test the IC50 values were 61.147 ± 0.924μg/ml, while in β-carotene-linoleic acid test system, the IC50 values were 153.744 ± 3.39μg/ml. Essential oil extract of aerial parts showed 81.80 c/o inhibition against butyrylcholinesterase at 200 μg/mL. The highest antibacterial activity was evidenced for the aerial parts MeOH extracts, with inhibition zone medium diameters of 18.66±1.00 mm against Escherichiacoli ATCC25922 at 16 mg/ml and of and 18.00±1.15mm against Micrococcus luteus ATCC533 at 16 mg/ml. This is the first report about the potential for food and pharmaceutical industry due to the composition and the biological activities of Carduncellus pinnatus essential oils growing in Algeria.