Essential oil variation in wild populations of Artemisia saharae (Asteraceae) from Tunisia: chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant properties

Abstract

BackgroundArtemisia saharae Pomel is a new taxon of Artemisia herba-alba Asso (Asteraceae) which is endemic to Tunisia and Algeria. This shrub, commonly known as white wormwood or desert wormwood, is largely used in folk medicine and as a culinary herb. The bulks aromatic plants come from wild populations whose essential oils compositions as well as their biological properties are severely affected by several factors such as geographic conditions. Therefore, the aim of the present work is to provide more information about the influence of altitude variation on the essential oil composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Artemisia saharae growing wild in the same geographical area.ResultsEssential oils were extracted by hydrodistillation of leaves and flowers of the plant collected from seven different altitudes of the Baten Zamour region (southwest of Tunisia). The highest essential oil yields (2.70-2.80%) were obtained for populations of high altitudes.Seventy-five compounds, representing 92.78 to 96.95% of the total essential oils, were separated and identified. Essential oils were characterized by very high percentage of oxygenated monoterpenes (52.1–72.6%) which constituted the predominant class. From the analyzed populations, the major compounds (>7%) were α-thujone, β-thujone, chrysanthenone, camphor, chrysanthenyl acetate, and sabinyl acetate. Sabinyl acetate which was detected in some populations at relatively high percentages (7.7–10.8%) seems to be characteristic to Southern Tunisian A. saharae. The studied essential oil showed a chemical diversity depending on the population altitude as revealed by linear discriminant and cluster analyses.ConclusionsThree population groups associated with altitudinal levels were distinguished. It is worthy to note that the most discriminating compounds of chemical groups were the minor ones. Despite the high variation of essential oil compositions, the high altitude population did not affect severely the antibacterial activity against the most tested strains. Altitude seems to be an important factor influencing the yield and the chemical profile of Artemisia saharae essential oils. Knowledge of the chemical composition of essential oils in relation to environmental factors is a very important quality criterion for their marketing and contributes to their valorization as functional ingredient in food technology.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40529-014-0076-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Variability of Thymol and Carvacrol Contents Reveals the Level of Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oils from Different Accessions of Oliveria decumbens

“…A number of various factors, including genetics, soil, geographic, and climatic conditions affect the essential oil content [40]. In addition, some factors like altitude have been reported to affect the essential oil content [33,40,41]. In our study, the highest content was found in the essential oil from Behbahan population growing at the lowest altitude (394 m), followed by that from Kahnoyeh and Dehdasht populations located at 758 and 971 m a.s.l., respectively.…”

“…The essential oil content of Behbahan population, with 8.52%, showed a remarkable difference compared to those previously reported for several O. decumbens populations [2,15,18,30,38,39]. A number of various factors, including genetics, soil, geographic, and climatic conditions affect the essential oil content [40]. In addition, some factors like altitude have been reported to affect the essential oil content [33,40,41].…”

Short Communication: Infraspecific variations in essential oil compositions of Nepeta fissa from Iran

“…Moreover, Thymus praecox growing in higher altitudes have lower essential oil than plants grown in lower altitudes (Avci 2011). While, Zouari et al (2014) in Artemisia saharae (Asteraceae), observed that populations of higher altitudes had the highest amount of essential oil. Sefidkon et al (2002) studied the essential oil compositions of aerial parts of N. fissa collected from Tehran Province, Iran.…”

Effect of NaCl and iron oxide nanoparticles on Mentha piperita essential oil composition

“…The oil is very heterogeneous mixture of many compounds at various concentrations (Zouari et al 2014). Factors such as climatic, and geographic conditions, as well as ontogeny of collected plants can affect formation of essential oil, its composition and its biological activities.…”