Composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils of Artemisia fragrans Willd. leaves and roots from Iran.

Hydrodistillation of leaves and roots of Artemisia fragrans Willd. (Asteraceae) yielded 0.9% and 0.1% (v/w) essential oils, respectively. GC/MS analysis allowed identification of 19 components, which made up 91.1% of the total oil from the leaves, while only 9 compounds (93.8%) were identified in the roots. The main components of the leaf oil were chrysanthenon (23.8%), 1, 8-cineole (23.7%), beta-caryophyllene (9.6%), p-cymene (7.7%), filifolide-A (5.7%) and filifolone (5.7%). In the root oil, the main constituents were camphor (67.0%) and camphene (16.9%). Antibacterial activity was tested against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria using the agar diffusion method. Activity was observed against two Gram-positive and one Gram- negative bacteria.