Abstract:

The chemical composition of leaf and flower essential oils of Origanum onites L. were analyzed using Thermo Scientific TSQ GC-MS/MS. Also, antioxidant activities of the leaf and flower essential oils were investigated by using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity and β-carotene linoleic acid assays. BHA (Butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (Butylated hydroxytoluene) were used as standards. The essential oil yields of O. onites were 1.75% for leaves, and 4.25% for flowers. A total of twenty-three compounds representing 99.9% of leaf oil and twenty-four compounds constituted 99.6% of the flower oil were determined. Oxygenated monoterpenes were detected at a high percentage (69.2%) in leaf essential oil and carvacrol (64. 9%) was determined as the main compound. Also, flower essential oil was dominated by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (73.5%) and α-cubebene (36.4%) was determined as major compound. For leaf oil, a high antioxidant capacity was determined, primarily due to carvacrol and p-cymene.

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