Chemical Composition, in vitro Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Insecticidal Activities of Essential Oil from Cladanthus arabicus

The essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of Cladanthus arabicus (L.) Cass was studied for its chemical composition, antioxidant, antimicrobial and insecticidal activities. The essential oil (EO) was analyzed by GC-MS. Sixty seven compounds representing 94.2 % of the oil were identified. The major components of C. arabicus EO were sabinene (31.1 %), beta-pinene (16.7 %), myrcene (12.3 %) and alpha-pinene (5.3 %). Moreover, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil against six bacteria and four Candida strains were studied. The results showed the existence of a strong antioxidant activity with IC50 of 55.4 +/- 0.12 g/mL and 57.2 +/- 0.21 g/mL, respectively for DPPH and FRAP methods. The EO exhibited great antimicrobial activity especially against Micrococcus luteus (MIC = 0.187 mg/mL) and Candida albicans (MIC = 0.187 mg/mL). LD50 and LD90 values were 43.6 and 74.1 ppm against 1d-old larvae of Aedes aegypti, respectively.