Abstract
Abstract The aim of this comparative research was to determine the chemical composition, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the methanolic extracts and essential oils (EOs) of Artemisia absinthium aerial parts from five different regions (Bizerte, Zaghouan, Kasserine, Gabes and Tozeur). The polyphenol and flavonoid contents significantly varied (P < 0.05) among the studied regions with maximal contents observed in Zaghouan. Based on the High Performance Liquid Chromatography results, quercetin and isorhamnetin were the main compounds and their percentages were region dependent. The methanolic extract of Zaghouan showed the highest scavenging ability of DPPH (IC50 = 31.46 ± 1.42 µg/mL). A. absinthium EOs from of the different regions were found to interestingly inhibit the growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria strains. The antibacterial effect was strongly related to the organoleptic EO quality. The EO of Zaghouan exhibited an important inhibitory effect with an inhibition zone estimated at 31 mm against Escherichia coli strain. The EO composition was obtained by GC-MS analysis showing the presence of thirty-five compounds. Camphor (49.70 ± 2.34 %) and chamazulene (25.41 ± 0.61 %) were the main constituents. These results suggested that the north regions have a high potential for selecting varieties rich on bioactive volatile and phenolic compounds.