Planta Med 2011; 77 - PM2
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282760

Composition of volatile oil and antioxidant activity of the oil and methanolic extracts of Ferula microcolea Boiss

H Amiri 1, M Dehshiri 2, A Zarei 2, M Mehrnia 3, Z Servat 2
  • 1Department of Biology, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran.
  • 2Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University, Broujerd Branch, Broujerd, Iran.
  • 3Research Center of Agricultural and Natural Resources of Lorestan Province, Khoramabad, Iran

The essential oils of Ferula microcolea Boiss. collected from west of Iran during the flowering stage, were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Under the optimum distillation and analysis conditions, 22 constituents (mainly monoterpenes) were identified in Ferula microcolea which represented 93.6% of the oil. The main constituents were α-pinene (27.3%), β-pinene (16.4%), nonanal (8.7%), β-caryophyllene (8.5%) and thymol (6.7%). The samples were also subjected to screening for their possible antioxidant activity by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene-linoleic acid assays. In the first case, the free radical scavenging activity of polar sub-fraction of methanol extract was superior to all other extracts (IC50=34.3±0.3µg/ml). non polar sub-fraction of methanol extract exhibited stronger activity than the essential oil. In the case of the linoleic acid system, oxidation of the

linoleic acid was effectively inhibited by the polar sub-fraction of methanol extract, while the oil and non polar sub-fraction of methanol extract were less effective.

Keywords: Ferula microcolea, Antioxidant activity, Essential oil