Chemotypes and radical scavenging activity of the essential oils from Artemisia arborescens L. growing in three areas of Bejaia (Algeria)

International audienceArtemisia arborescens L. is a medicinal and aromatic plant used in traditional medicine for its therapeutic properties to treat lung diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes and inflammations. The leaves of A. arborescens L. were harvested in Amizour, Cap Bouak and Sahel (Bejaia, Algeria) and their essential oils were analyzed by Gas Chromatography/Flame Ionization Detector and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. The main constituents were β-thujone in the essential oil of Cap Bouak (59.8%), camphor in the volatile oil of Sahel (58.7%) and chamazulene in that of Amizour (31.4%). The radical scavenging activity of these essential oils was evaluated against DPPH and ABTS radicals by calculation of IC50. The best activity against DPPH and ABTS radicals were that of Sahel essential oil with IC50 DPPH = 133.0 µg/mL and IC50 ABTS = 211.6 µg/mL. The Spearman test revealed no significant correlations between IC50 DPPH and the chemical composition of the essential oil from A. arborescens L., while correlations with IC50 ABTS indicated that hydrocarbon monoterpenes, oxygenated monoterpenes and hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes promote activity against ABTS radical. These results can give prospects of using essential oils from A. arborescens L. as a natural adjunct in medicine formulations to treat diseases caused by oxidative stress

Correlation between chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oils from leaves and berries of Schinus molle L. growing in two areas of Bejaia (Algeria)

International audienceSchinus molle L. is a medicinal and aromatic plant used in traditional medicine for his therapeutic properties. The leaves and berries of Schinus molle L. were collected in Iheddaden and Amriw (Bejaia, Algeria) and the essential oils were isolated by hydrodistillation with yields between 0.26 and 0.80%. The chemotype of the essential oils was sesquiterpene group, cadinene and cadinols subgroups. The cadinene subgroup was obtained from Iheddaden leaves and Amriw samples (leaves and berries) with proportions between 16.1 and 23.4%, while the cadinols subgroup was only shown with Iheddaden berries (30.5%). The antioxidant activities of the essential oils from leaves and berries of Schinus molle L. were low: IC50 DPPH were between 6.9 and 8.6 mg/mL, when IC50 ABTS varied between 0.7 and 5.0 mg/mL. Principal component analysis indicates that high proportions of oxygenated sesquiterpenes promote the antioxidant activity of essential oils from Schinus molle L. against ABTS radical, while the antioxidant activity against the DPPH radical requires the combination of the different chemical families contained in the essential oils of Schinus molle L