Chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of essential oil of endemic Ferula lycia Boiss

The essential oil of Ferula lycia Boiss. was analyzed by GC-MS and assayed for its antimicrobial activity. Thirty six components representing 96.76% of the total oil were characterized. The most prominent component of oil was alpha-pinene (59.89%). beta-Pinene (19.01%), limonene (3.21%) and bornyl acetate (2.10%) were the other main constituents of the oil. To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of essential oil, Disc Diffusion Susceptibility Test was used. The essential oil was effective on 7 of 17 bacteria species but in 6 of them was less effective than antibiotics. The zone diameters of essential oil and antibiotics were equal for Haemophilus influenzae ATCC 49247 strain. Antioxidant activity of the essential oil was determined by DPPH, beta-carotene/linoleic acid and reducing power. The essential oil exhibited weak antioxidant activity. This is the first and original study on chemical composition and antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of F. lycia endemic for Turkey.