Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Potential, and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oil Cones of Tunisian Cupressus sempervirens

The extraction yield of the essential oil (EO) extracted by hydrodistillation from the cones of Tunisian Cupressus sempervirens L. was of 0.518%. The chemical composition was analyzed by GC-MS. Results showed that this essential oil was mainly composed of monoterpene hydrocarbons (65%) with alpha-pinene as the major constituent (47.51%). Its antioxidant activity was ascertained by evaluating the total antioxidant capacity and also by evaluating its inhibitory effect against DPPH and ABTS radicals. In addition, it showed a strong antioxidant power against the DPPH (IC50 = 151 mu g/mL) and ABTS (IC50 = 176.454 mu g/mL) radicals scavenging. Moreover, its antibacterial activity was tested against different species of pathogenic bacteria (three Gram-positive and eight Gram-negative bacteria). The bacterial strains susceptible to the evaluated oil were Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Morganella morganii, Shigella, and Vibrio cholerae.