Coupling Ultrasound with Enzyme-Assisted Extraction of Essential Oil from Algerian <em>Artemisia herba-alba</em> Asso

465-471The composition of the essential oil (EO) of Artemisia herba-alba Asso, extracted by Hydro-Distillation (HD) and by coupling Ultrasound with Enzyme-Assisted Extraction (UE-AE) prior to HD from the plant’s aerial parts were analyzed by GC-MS. Antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of the obtained EOs were evaluated. The yield of EO extraction after pretreatment of the desert wormwood leaves by coupling ultrasound with enzymes was in the range of 1.56%±0.07 compared to 1.01% ±0.08 in HD process; also, the total time necessary to complete EO extraction is 180min for HD and 120min for UE-AE. GC–MS profiling of the EOs showed changes in chemo type obtained by HD from camphor/1,8-cineole/α-thujone/chrysanthenone to a new chemotype in the case of UE-AE: camphor/α-thujone/1,8-cineole/filifolone; Then, an increasing of filifolone, α-thujone, 3-octyne and cis-limonene oxide characterize the UE-EO. The antifungal activity of the EO has slightly increased when extracted by UE-AE, however, both antibacterial and antioxidant activities were interestingly increased