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Planta Med 2009; 75 - P-25
DOI: 10.1055/s-2009-1216463

Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Four Achillea Essential Oils from Turkey

B Demirci 1, N Tabanca 2, DE Wedge 2, SI Khan 3, IA Khan 3, 4, Z Aytac 5, KHC Baser 1
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, 26470, Eskisehir, Turkey
  • 2USDA-ARS-NPURU, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • 4Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 5Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Gazi University, 06500 Ankara, Turkey

The genus Achillea L. of Asteraceae is widely distributed and is represented by 42 species in Turkey. Achillea species comprise an important biological resource in folk medicine in the treatment of various diseases. In this study, the aerial parts of four Achillea species collected from different parts of Turkey were investigated for their essential oil composition and biological activity. Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation were analyzed both by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main Achillea oil constituents were found as follows: A. filipendula: 43.8% santolina alcohol, 14.5% 1,8-cineole and 12.5% cis-chrysanthenyl acetate; A. magnifolia: 27.5% linalool, 5.8% spathulenol, 5.5% terpinen-4-ol, 4.7% α-terpineol and 4.7% β-eudesmol; A. tenuifolia: 12.4% artemisia ketone, 9.9% p-cymene, 7.1% camphor, 5.9% terpinen-4-ol, 4.7% caryophyllene oxide and 4.5% α-pinene; A. tomentollum: 9.4% camphor, 7.6% linalool, 7.1% α-terpineol, 5.3% trans-pinocarveol and 4.5% trans-verbenol. Achillea essential oils were investigated for antimalarial, antimicrobial and antifungal activities. Achillea oils showed no antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria up to a concentration of 200 mg/mL. A. tomentollum, A. tenuifolia and A. magnifolia demonstrated mild antifungal activity against Cryptococcus neoformans (IC50 = 45, 20 and 15 mg/mL, respectively). A. magnifolia and A. filipendula showed strong antimalarial activity against chloroquine sensitive D6 (IC50 = 1.2 and 0.68 mg/mL) and chloroquine resistant W2 (IC50 = 1.1 and 0.9 mg/mL) strains of Plasmodium falciparum without cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. Achillea oils also demonstrated weak non-selective antifungal activity against filamentous fungal plant pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae, and C. gloeosporioides.