Chemical composition and biological activities of Algerian Santolina africana essential oil

Abstract The chemical composition and the biological activities of the essential oil (EO) extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Algerian population of Santolina africana have been studied. S. Africana EO was chemically characterized by means of GC–MS. Forty-six compounds were identified representing ∼92% of the total oil. β-pinene (11.65%), germacrene (10.33%), 1,8-Cineole (9.46%) and sabinene (7.18%) were the major components. The EO antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH assay. All EO concentrations showed considerable scavenging ability on DPPH radicals (IC50