Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial, Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory Activity of Carum copticum L. Essential Oil

Essential oil extracted by hydrodistillation from Iranian Carum copticum was characterized by means of GC-MS. In the case of C. copticum, ten compounds were identified representing the 94.1 % of the total oil with a yield of 0.91 % w/w. The major constituents of the oil were described as p-cymene (11.03 %), gamma-terpinene (20.0 %) and thymol (45.6 %). The essential oil was also subjected to antimicrobial, antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities. The essential oil was particularly active against Candida parapsilosis, with the lowest MIC and MBC value (1.5 +/- 0.11 and 1.5 +/- 0.10 mg/ml). Furthermore, the essential oil and its main compounds showed a potent NO scavenging effect and inhibited inducible NO synthase expression. These results support the use of the essential oil and its main compounds for their anti-inflammatory properties and antimicrobial activity.