Chemical composition and biological activities of Daucus aureus essential oils from Eastern Algeria

The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical composition of the essential oils of three populations of Daucus aureus from three sites in Eastern Algeria (Setif, Constantine and Oum Elbouaghi) and to test their antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The major components were sabinene (30.6% and 36.2%), n-nonane (8.0% and 7.9%), α-pinene (5.5% and 6.3%) and 4-terpineol (4.4% and 6.0%) in D. aureus from Setif and Constantine populations essential oils, respectively; whereas, α-pinene (19.4%), β-pinene (12.0%) and p-cymene (12.2%) were the major components in Oum Elbouaghi essential oil population. The chemical compositions of D. aureus from Eastern Algeria are markedly different from those from Western Algeria, and likely represent new chemotypes. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was evaluated against four bacteria and one fungus, using the disc-diffusion method and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), whereas, the antioxidant activity of the essential oils was evaluated using the DPPH test. The results showed that the oils have an antimicrobial activity against the microorganisms tested, with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 0.97 and 3.23 mg/mL and weaker antioxidant and DPPH radical scavenging activities were found in comparison to butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT).