Chemical and Biological Study of Essential Oils of Two Populations of Algerian Daucus setifolius Desf.

Introduction: Daucus setifolius (Apiaceae) is a species found in east of Algeria and not known in the folk medicine. In the present study, the chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of D. setifolius essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation, collected from two sites of Algeria (Bejaia and Skikda), were investigated. Methods: The chemical composition of the oil was determined by GC and GC/MS. Their in vitro antimicrobial activities were evaluated by the disc diffusion method against a panel of eight bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 , Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 700603, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313 , Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 49452 and Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC19606) and three fungi ( Aspergillus fl avus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans). The antioxidant activity was assessed using the DPPH test. Results: The essential oils of the Skikda and Bejaia populations were found to contain thirty and ten constituents respectively, which represented the 97.1% and 97.0% of their phytochemicals. The essential oils-yields varied from 0.3% (Skikda) to 0.5% (Bejaia), both containing the compounds sabinene and β-pinene as the major compounds. The IC 50 values of DPPH assays were IC 50 = 0.041895 μg/ml and IC 50 = 0.00575 μg/ml for Bejaia and Skikda populations essentials oils, respectively; the Bejaia value is superior when compared with the respective value of BHT (IC 50 = 0.0238225 μg/ml 1). Conclusions: The results herein indicate that the essential oils of the aerial parts of both D. setifolius populations investigated contain β-pinene and sabinene as major components, while the molecule of estragole (9.61%) was assessed present only in the Skikda oil. In respect of their bioactivities, the D. setifolius Bejaia population oil was more potent as compared to the known antioxidant compound butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Both oils were inactive against the test panel microorganisms except for C. albicans .