Biological activities and chemical composition of essential oil isolated from Artemisia herba-alba

Artemisia herba-alba (AHA), known as sheeh in Jordan, is recommended by regional traditional healers for the treatment of a variety of diseases. AHA has been used in folk medicine to treat colds, coughing, bronchitis, intestinal disturbances, diarrhea, neuralgias, arterial hypertension, and diabetes. The objectives of the current study were to identify the chemical compositions of the essential oil extracted from dried leaf powder of AHA cultivated in Jordan and investigate its antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The essential oil was isolated using hydro distillation, and the identification of artemisia herba-alba essential oil (AHEO) composition was performed using validated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antibacterial activity of AHEO was assessed against escherichia coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa, klebsiella pneumonia, and staphylococcus aureus and two clinical isolates (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus epidermidis [MRSE]) using a disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values, using the micro-dilution broth method. Additionally, antioxidant activities were determined using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays. The results revealed that the yield of AHEO was 4.41% v/w, with nearly 22 identified compounds, constituting approximately 96.80% of the total mass of essential oils. Monoterpenoids was the major compounds (71.90%), with alpha pinene being the major component, accounting for 17.20% of the composition. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were 43.97 mg GAE/g and 30.11 mg CE/g, respectively. The antibacterial activity of AHEO against MRSE exhibited the highest inhibitory effect, while E.coli showed the highest MBC value. Furthermore, AHEO demonstrated significant antioxidant activity (IC50= 64.57 and 34.01 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively). The results indicate that AHEO possess good antioxidant and antibacterial properties, suggesting that they may be used as a supplementary food and antimicrobial agent.