Effect of extraction technique on the content and antioxidant activity of crude extract of Anacyclus clavatus flowers and their essential oil composition.

Anacyclus clavatus is a plant used as food and remedy. The objective of this work was to study the effect of extraction technique on the antioxidant property, total phenol and flavonoid contents of crude extracts from A. clavatus flowers and their essential oil composition. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, ferric-reducing power, β-carotene and total antioxidant capacity assays have demonstrated the significant antioxidant ability of different crude extracts obtained by using the following extraction methods: Soxhlet, microwave heating, heat reflux (HRE) and maceration. The activity of the extract obtained by HRE was the highest (112.06 ± 2.89 μg/mL) evaluated by the DPPH assay. Extraction of essential oil was performed by microwave-assisted hydro-distillation (MAHD) and by hydro-distillation (HD). A significant difference was observed in both essential oils, despite the common main family and major constituents, such as artemisia ketone (10.0 ± 0.8% for MAHD vs. 6.5 ± 0.5 for HD) and pinocarvone (4.1 ± 0.4% for MAHD vs. 1.1 ± 0.1% for HD).