Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils from Algerian Daucus Carota L. subsp. carota Aerial Parts

The essential oil content and their chemical composition of aerial part, flowers, and both leaves and stems of wild carrot growing in Algeria (Daucuscarota L. ssp. Carota) as well as aerial part at different plant maturity stages was examined. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the essential oils were performed using GC, GC-MS and C-13-NMR. 57 compounds were identified representing more than 85% of the total oil in each sample. Generally, The main components in the essential oil of aerial part in full flowering were -pinene (21.3 %) and asarone (18.4 %), while the essential oils isolated from flowers and both leaves and stems were dominated by asarone (9.8, 9.4 %), alpha-pinene(10.9, 10.6 %) and beta-bisabolene (7.6, 9.3 %) respectively. Before flowering and after flowering the major constituents were the linalool (11.2 %) and asarone (20.8 %) respectively. The antioxidant potential of the different essential oils was evaluated using the inhibition of free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. All essential oils showed a relatively weak antioxidant capacity. The results obtained from the essential oils of the aerial part in full flowering 50 showed the strongest activity against DPPH than the other samples (IC50 = 96,4 +/- 1.1 mu g/ml).