Phytochemicals, which are commonly found at different levels in many medicinal plants, are natural strong antioxidants used in traditional medicine. In this research, determination of differences of phytochemical compositions and biological properties were aimed as periodically (pre-, full and post flowering) and daily (6 am, 1 pm and 8 pm) in Achillea gypsicola Hub.-Mor. The volatile oils belonging to A. gypsicola were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The antimicrobial activities of the volatile oils were determined with disc diffusion method. The microdilution method was used to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by spectrophotometric methods and antioxidant capacities were evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, reducing power (RP) and metal chelating activity (MCA) assay. In addition, the phenolic acid and flavonoid compositions were evaluated by reversed phase-high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). This study presented a comprehensive report for the first time on evaluation of the phytochemical composition and the biological properties of A. gypsicola at different phenological stages. Thirty-two compounds, containing the major component as camphor, 1,8-cineole and borneol, were detected. Designated harvest time for the highest yield of volatile oils was found to be at full flowering stage-1 pm. It has been observed that the volatile oil composition changes periodically and even daily. Also, in this research, menthol and menthone were found as the composition of volatile oil in Achillea species for the first time. Full flowering stage was found as the richest period in terms of phenolic acid and flavonoid compositions of A. gypsicola for the first time. The species examined in this research showed a high antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in comparison to other studies with Achillea species. The volatile oils exhibited high performances with range of inhibition zones (8.3-42.3 mm) and minimum inhibitory concentration values (2.25-144 μg/ml). Besides, a high correlation between antioxidant activity and phenolic content of A. gypsicola was found. These results suggest that A. gypsicola can be used as a safe source in the cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries.
Keywords: antimicrobial activity; antioxidant capacity; developmental stage; essential oil composition; phenolic compounds.
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