Abstract:

The chemical composition of essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the dried aerial parts of Tanacetum tomentellum (Boiss.) Grierson (Asteraceae) was analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. Eighty-eight compounds, constituting about 84.1% of the total oil, were identified. The main constituents were camphor (9.4%), linalool (7.6%), α-terpineol (7.1%), trans-pinocarveol (5.3%) and trans-verbenol (4.5%). The oil was evaluated for antimicrobial and antimalarial activity. The oil showed antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans with an IC50 value of 45 μg/mL, while it showed no antimicrobial activity against other tested microorganisms (Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Staphylococcus aureus methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium intracellulare) up to a concentration of 200 μg/mL. No antimalarial activity was observed against chloroquine sensitive and chloroquine resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum up to 15.9 μg/mL. We report for the first time the essential oil composition and biological activity of T. tomentellum

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