Screening of the antioxidative and antimicrobial properties of the essential oils of Pimpinella anisetum and Pimpinella flabellifolia from Turkey

The aerial parts of two endemic Pimpinella [Pimpinella anisetum Boiss. & Ball. and Pimpinella flabellifolia (Boiss.) Benth. ex Drude] were hydro-distilled to produce oils in the yields of 2.07% (v/w) and 2.61% (v/w), respectively. The oils were analysed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty-one and nineteen components were identified, representing 99.5% and 99.7% of the oils, respectively. The main compounds of P. anisetum were (E)-anethole (82.8%) and methyl chavicol (14.5%), whereas limonene (47.0%), (E)-anethole (37.9%) and α-pinene (6.0%) were the major constituents of P. flabellifolia. The oils were screened for their possible antioxidant activities by two complementary test systems, namely DPPH free radical-scavenging and β-carotene/linoleic acid systems. In the first case, P. anisetum oil exerted greater antioxidant activity than that of P. flabellifolia oil with an IC₅₀ value of 5.62 ± 1.34 μg/ml. In the β-carotene/linoleic acid test system, the oil of P. anisetum was superior to P. flabellifolia with 70.5% ± 2.86 inhibition rate. Essential oils of the plants studied here were also screened for their antimicrobial activities against six bacteria and two fungi. The oils showed moderate antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms tested.