Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oil from the Aerial Parts of Teucrium luteum (Mill.) Degen subsp. flavovirens (Batt.) Greuter & Burdet Growing Wild in Tunisia

Essential oils (EOs), the odorous and volatile products of a plant’s secondary metabolism, have wide applications in folk medicine, food flavoring preservation, fragrance industries. The aim this study was to analyze chemical composition EO from aerial parts (including inflorescences) wild Teucrium luteum subsp. flavovirens Tunisia. obtained by hydrodistillation air-dried plant material Clevenger-type apparatus analyzed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Fifty-three components representing 83.9% total constituents were identified. T. is characterized presence β-elemol (7.2%), (+)-α-pinene (6%), β-eudesmol (5.5%), guaiol (4.2%), α-bisabolol β-caryophyllene (4.1%) as principal components. In vitro (DPPH β-carotene bleaching assays), it showed significantly higher radical scavenging antioxidant properties than reference compound, BHT. To best our knowledge, first report describing Tunisian flavovirens. Our preliminary data will help valorize potentially useful species Tunisia represent starting point for further studies on its fraction.