title: Chemical composition and antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities of the essential oil of Achillea ligustica all.
abstract: The chemical composition of the essential oil from flowering tops of Achillea ligustica All. was studied. Samples were collected in different localities of Sardinia (Italy) and hydrodistilled both with Clevenger-type and with simultaneous distillation-extraction apparatus. The yields ranged between 0.88 +/- 0.06 and 0.43 +/- 0.02% (vol/dry wt). The essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS, and a total of 96 components were detected. From a qualitative point of view, irrelevant differences between samples were observed. Strong chemical variability depending on the origin of the samples was observed. The major compounds found were santolina alcohol (6.7-21.8%, for the first time detected in A. ligustica), borneol (3.4-20.8%), sabinol (2.1-15.5%), trans-sabinyl acetate (0.9-17.6%), alpha-thujone (0.4-25.8%), and, among sesquiterpenes, viridiflorol (0.7-3.6%). No significant differences were detected between essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation and simultaneous distillation-extraction with CH2Cl2 and n-hexane. Antioxidant activity as DPPH radical scavenging activity was expressed in TEAC and ranged between 0.40 and 0.88 mmol/L. The antimicrobial and antifungal activities were investigated on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Penicillium commune, Fusarium oxysporum, Rizoctonia solani, and Aspergillus flavus, showing low activity.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Tossicologia, Università di Cagliari, via Ospedale 72, 09124 Cagliari, Italy. tuberoso@unica.it
authors.forename: Carlo I G
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Tuberoso
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kowalczyk
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Coroneo
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dessì
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cabras
mesh_terms: D031162:Achillea / Q000737:chemistry*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D007558:Italy; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010851:Picrates; D012015:Reference Standards; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010851:Picrates; D013729:Terpenes; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl