Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Seseli pallasii Besser. (syn Seseli varium Trev.) Essential Oils

The chemical composition, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils obtained from vegetative parts (roots, stems and fruits) of Seseli pallasii Besser. were studied. S. pallasii essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of different vegetative parts, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS, applying the liquid injection mode. These results were compared with the corresponding chemical composition of volatiles achieved by the “headspace” injection mode, followed by GC and GC-MS (HS-GC-MS). The main constituents identified in S. pallasii stems and fruits essential oils were monoterpenes, with α-pinene as major constituent (27.3% and 84.7%, respectively). Saturated hydrocarbons comprise 58.5% of S. pallasii root essential oil, while 34.5% were monoterpenes. The major constituents identified in S. pallasii root essential oil were n-nonane (45.2%), (Z)-β-ocimene (34.5%) and n-undecane (13.3%).The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was screened against a panel of four bacterial and two fungal strains (E. coli, P. aeruginosa, B. cereus, S. aureus, C. albicans and A. niger). The oils showed moderate to high activity against all strains estimated via minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 21.9 to 416 µg mL -1 and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) ranging from 54.2 to 582.4 µg mL -1. On the other hand, S. pallasii essential oils showed very low antioxidant activity.