Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils from Umbels of Algerian Ammi visnaga (L.)

Two samples of essential oils from the umbels of wild Ammi visnaga L. from two different sites in Algeria, Tessala El Merdja (Blida region) and Arbatache (Boumerdes region) were isolated by hydro-distillation (HD) and investigated by capillary GC-FID and GC-MS. Two columns of different polarities CP SIL-5CB and DB wax have been used. The best separation of the major compounds was achieved in this case on the polar one. A total of 34 compounds were identified representing 76.2-76.8 % of the oils. The main components of the volatile oils were 2-methylbutyl-2- methylbutyrate (16.7-27.4 %), linalool (24.8-41.2 %), limonene (6.8-9.9 %) and isoamylisovalerate (7.3-7.4 %). The antioxidant efficiency was tested using the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method. In comparison with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which was used as positive control, all samples showed a weak activity . However, the essential oil from Arbatache site showed a relatively better antioxidant power (6.45 +/- 0.74 to +/- 9.16 0.53) in comparison with that of Tessala El Merdja (3.8 +/- 0.13 to 6.65 +/- 0.49) for the concentration range of 600 to 1000 mg/l.