Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Essential Oils of Phagnalon sordidum (L.) Rchb. (Asteraceae) from Algeria

Sa？etak The essential oil constituents of aerial parts of Phagnalon sordidum (L.) Rchb. were analyzed by a combination of capillary gas chromatographic-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A total of 125 constituents comprising 97.6 % of the total oil were identified. The volatile fraction was characterized by monoterpene hydrocarbons (51.4 %), oxygenated monoterpenes (10.4 %), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (18.0 %), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (6.0 %) and non-terpenic components (11.8 %). The predominant constituents identified were β-pinene (26.0 %), (E)-β-caryophyllene (10.0 %), limonene (8.5 %), myrcene (4.7 %), decanal (4.5 %), thymol (3.9 %), germacrene-D (3.8 %), and p-cymene (3.4 %). The antimicrobial activities of the essential oil evaluated against eleven bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella typhimurium were the most susceptible microorganisms with a minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) 0.01, 0.04, 0.04 mg/mL respectively. Additionally, the essential oil showed moderate radical scavenging and electron donating activity