Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the Athamanta turbith ssp. haynaldii volatiles

Abstract

The fresh aerial parts of essential oils and headspace volatiles of two populations of Athamanta turbith ssp. haynaldii were analyzed in detail by GC and GC/MS analyses. In headspace samples, 32 compounds were identified, representing 98.4% and 98.8% of the total volatiles and were dominated by hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes, representing over 60% of both. Germacrene D was the major component, followed by terpinolene and myristicin. The essential oils of A. turbith consisted mainly of phenylpropene compounds with myristicin being the major compound. Fifty two compounds were identified in the oil isolated from Perućac and 57 from Kremna, accounting for 99.0% and 99.6% of total detectable components, with myristicin (52.3% and 50.8%, respectively) being the major component. In both samples, myristicin, germacrene D and δ-cadinene make up over 78% of the total oil composition. Antioxidant activity was measured using four different assays: DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC and TRP method. It was found that the essential oil showed low antioxidant capacities compared with standard antioxidant compounds.