the evaluation of the antibacterial and antioxidant activity of tarragon (artemisia dracunculus l.) essential oil and its chemical composition

background food born pathogenic bacteria are the most important agents of infections in humans, and food spoilage also results in economic losses in food industry. objectives the aim of this study was the evaluation of chemical components, total phenolic content, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of artemisia dracunculus essential oil. materials and methods the essential oil of tarragon was analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (gc-fid) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (gc-ms). the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content were evaluated by bleaching of β-carotene and folin ciocalteu methods, respectively. the antibacterial effect of the essential oil was inspected on seven gram- positive and negative bacteria using the microdilution method. results a total of 19 compounds were identified by gc-fid and gc-ms. the main compounds were methyl chavicol (84.83%), trans-ocimene (3.86%), z-β-ocimene (3.42%), limonene (1.79%) and α-pinene (0.57%). total phenols were 10.16 ± 0.08 mg/g gallic acid equivalent. the essential oil showed good antioxidant activity in bleaching of β-carotene method (50 ± 1.63%). the minimum inhibitory concentrations (mic) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (mbc) for essential oil ranged between 3.8 to 250 mg/ml, respectively. conclusions the essential oil of tarragon might be replaced by synthetic antioxidant and preservatives in food industry.