Bioactivities of Achillea millefolium essential oil and its main terpenes from Iran

Abstract

Achillea millefolium L. comprises several relevant species for the food, cosmetic, perfumery, and pharmaceutical industries. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis revealed borneol to be a major component of A. millefolium, with its contribution to the essential oil being 36.35%. Borneol exhibited significant lipid peroxidation inhibition and antimicrobial activity against all tested bacterial strains. In addition, borneol had the highest antioxidant activity in all conducted assays. The borneol had significantly greater radical scavenging activity than other component essential oil and the reference antioxidant Trolox. In addition, a correlation between antioxidant activity and the total phenolic content was found. The borneol significantly inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide- activated macrophages (an in vitro model of inflammation). These results clearly show the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of the plant essential oils.