Chemical composition, Antimicrobial and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of essential oils from the Tunisian Asteriscus maritimus (L.) Less

Abstract

The chemical composition, the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effect and the antimicrobial activity of the Tunisian Asteriscus maritimus (L.) Less essential oils obtained from flowers, leaves and stems were investigated. According to the GC and GC-MS analysis results, 45 (99.32%), 34 (94%) and 29 compounds (94.95%) were identified, respectively. In the essential oils extracted from the flowers and leaves of A. maritimus, oxygenated sesquiterpenes were abundantly found (57.82 and 46.39%, respectively). Hexdecanoic acid was detected in an important amount in leaves and stems (30.35 and 49.18%, respectively), while β-eudesmol (24.25%), menthyl acetate (17.03%) and pentadecanal (15.38%) were the most abundant constituents in flowers. To evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity, all volatiles were tested against some bacterial and fungal agents. It was found that only the volatile oil from flowers exhibited interesting antibacterial and antifungal activities. When screened for their anti-acetylcholinesterase activity, essential oil from flowers exhibited the highest activity (IC50 =95 μg/mL). To our knowledge, this is the first report of acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antimicrobial activity of the Tunisian A. maritimus essential oils.