Volatiles Profiling and Antioxidant Activity of Moroccan Artemisia Ifranensis J. Didier and Anacyclus Pyrethrum Link Essential Oils

Moroccan indigenous and spontaneous medicinal plants have been widely used to treatment of a number of diseases. Volatile compounds mixtures isolated from leaves and roots respectively of Artemisia ifranensis and Anacyclus pyrethrum species, by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by (GC/FID) and (GC/MS). Oils chemical profile of plant species showed the presence of major compounds among the identified constituents, this is respectively beta-thujone (41.12 %) and spathulenol (16.9 %). Essential oils studied are screened also for their, in vitro, antioxidant activity by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The noted results reported that Artemisia ifranensis essential oil exhibited promising antioxidant profile, and revealed an antioxidant property more important (IC50 = 5.9 mg/ml) than that of ascorbic acid used in food and pharmaceutical industries (IC50 = 8.09 mg/ml). This essence can be considered as a valuable source of natural antioxidants. Hence, oil of A. pyrethrum has a low efficient antioxidant potency (IC50 values 30.05 mg/ml), compared to the tested samples. The results supported the traditional usage and also possible use of plants volatile oils in combination with other preservatives to protect food materials against a variety of oxidative systems, in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.