Volatile composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of artemisia tournefortiana Reichb. from Kashmir, India.

The importance of the present study is to find out the phytochemical profile of essential oil (EO) of Artemisia tournefortiana Reichb. and its biological evaluation. Nineteen volatile constituents were identified from EO representing 93.47% of total oil composition. Oxygenated monoterpenes (54.46%) were found to be dominant over other class of compounds. cis-spiroether (47.66%), Z-β-farnesene (22.83%), trans-nerolidol (3.89%) and camphor (3.80%) were found to be the major constituents. cis-spiroether is first time identified in this region. Antibacterial effects were observed against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria with maximum zone of inhibition (32 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all tested strains were found in the range of 1.6-3.4 µg/mL. Hence the antimicrobial effect of this plant EO obtained from the natural source could be utilised in order to overcome the problem of microbial drug resistance. The EO showed moderate antioxidant effect through DPPH assay with IC₅₀ value of 56.2 µg/mL. The significant antioxidant activity can be attributed to the presence of various conjugated secondary metabolites, phenolics and hydroxyl group bearing constituents present in the essential oil.