Abstract
Aerial parts of Artemisia judaica from Jordan were subjected to different drying methods, including shade (ShD), sun (SD), oven (OD) drying at different temperatures in addition to microwave drying (MWD). Essential oils extracted from these samples were assayed for their chemical composition and antioxidant activity. GC/MS analysis of the different oil samples revealed qualitative and quantitative differences. All samples contained high concentration levels of oxygenated monoterpenes (41.69%-68.56%) followed by esters (8.32-36.65%). The essential oil extracted from ShD plant material exhibited the strongest DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities while oil samples obtained from the SD method showed the strongest ferrous ion chelating activity (FIC). Cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to identify the effect of drying methods on the essential oil composition obtained from A. judaica. The different essential oils were classified into two clusters corresponding to natural and artificial drying methods.