Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia scoparia, and Artemisia sieberi grown in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) are one of the most significant products of plant metabolites, the current research work was performed to determine and compare the chemical compositions of the EOs extracted from three different species of Artemisia (absinthium, sieberi, and scoparia) growing in Saudi Arabia and to test their antimicrobial potential against different bacterial and fungal strains. The EOs were isolated by hydro-distillation and analyzed by combining a gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID) with the gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) technique. Chemical analysis revealed that the three species had four compounds in common, i.e., limonene, camphor, terpinen-4-ol, and ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, while the main components identified in the EOs of A. absinthium and A. sieberi were cis-davanone (34.7% and 36.1%, respectively) and camphor (16.2% and 24.1%, respectively). In contrast, the keto compounds dominated in the oil of A. scoparia with 2-nonanone (55%) and 2-undecanone (24.5%) representing more than 80% of the total oil content. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the isolated oils was evaluated by the broth microdilution method, revealing that all the EOs isolated from the examined Artemisia species displayed growth inhibiting actions in a concentration-dependent manner on selected tested microorganism species. The findings of the study also suggested that the tested EOs could be used to develop effective natural antimicrobial remedies with potential application in the fields of cosmetic industry, food manufacturing and medicine.