Determination of the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Artemisia dracunculus and of the antifungal and antibacterial activities of Turkish Artemisia absinthium, A. dracunculus, Artemisia santonicum, and Artemisia spicigera essential oils.

The essential oil isolated from Turkish tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) by hydrodistillation was analyzed by GC-MS. Thirty compounds representing 99.5% of total oil were identified. The predominant components in the oil were (Z)-anethole (81.0%), (Z)-beta-ocimene (6.5%), (E)-beta-ocimene (3.1%), limonene (3.1%), and methyleugenol (1.8%). The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the essential oils isolated from A. dracunculus, Artemisia absinthium, Artemisia santonicum, and Artemisia spicigera oils were also evaluated. In general, the oils exhibited potent antifungal activity at a wide spectrum on the growth of agricultural pathogenic fungi. Among the oils, the weakest antifungal activity was shown by the oil of A. dracunculus. In many cases, the oils of A. absinthium, A. santonicum, and A. spicigera completely inhibited the growth of some fungal species. As compared with antibacterial activities of all of tested oils, A. santonicum and A. spicigera oils showed antibacterial activities over a very wide spectrum. However, the essential oils tested showed lower inhibition zones than the inhibition zones of penicillin. In addition, antioxidant and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities of tarragon oil were determined, and weak antioxidant and DPPH radical scavenging activities were found in comparison to butylated hydroxytoluene.