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The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from leaves of three samples of Aeollanthus pubescens Benth. (Lamiaceae) growing wild in Benin were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. To date the biological functions of A. pubescens essential oils have not been demonstrated scientifically even if this plant is traditionally used by local population in alimentary and medicine. We investigated the chemical composition of A. pubescens essential oils and their antiradical and anti-inflammatory activities. Twenty four compounds were identified and quantified in the essential oils, the major compounds being thymol (63.6 %; 9.5 %; 63.4 %), carvacrol (3.1 %; 51.1 %; 2.1 %), thymyl acetate (9.8 %; 0.8 %; 10.2 %), carvacryl acetate (0.8 %; 6.1 %; 0.7 %), p-cymene (5.6 %; 9.0 %; 5.5 %) and γ-terpinene (6.4 % ; 11.2 %; 6.6 %). The antiradical activity of these oils was found to be high and a low anti-inflammatory activity was observed. Fractionation of a thymol rich sample allowed the identification of the bioactive fractions and their contribution to the efficiency of the whole extract. This study suggests that A. pubescens essential oils may be useful in the food industry where the antioxidants are used to retard the degradation of fatty substances, but also in cosmetics or in the field of herbal medicine, where the radical species are associated with the concept of antiaging.

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