DETERMINING ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION, ANTIBACTERIAL and ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY of WATER WORMWOOD EXTRACTS

Abstract

Artemisia L. species ( Artemisia absinthium and Artemisia austriaca ) naturally distributed through eastern Turkey were chosen as experimental material in this study. Essential oils of these Artemisia species were isolated by hydrodistillation and analysed by gas chromotography-mass spectrometry. The major components were identified as E-myrcene (44.32 %) in Artemisia absinthium and camphor in Artemisia austriaca (43.27 %), respectively. Essential oils of the plants were tested for antimicrobial activity the disk diffusion method against 6 bacteria and 2 yeast. The essential oil of A. absinthium and A. austriaca showed similar antimicrobial activities. Artemisia species were also antioxidatively active. Using TEAC method, essential oils showed almost the same patterns of antioxidant activities. While A. absinthium showed 3.4±1.4 mM Trolox activity, A. austriaca has 4.9±1.2 mM Trolox. These samples were found to be slightly good radical scavenging activities against ABTS radicals.