Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Essential Oil Obtained from Chincho ( Sm) Leaves Grown in the Peruvian Andes.

The chemical composition, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties of the essential oil from the leaves of Sm., grown in Peru, were studied. The EO was extracted using steam distillation, and its chemical composition was analyzed using GC-MS, while the antioxidant activity was evaluated using the radical, scavenging capacity (DPPH and ABTS assays), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, ferrous ion chelating (FIC) activity, and the Rancimat test. The antibacterial activity against , , and was studied using the agar well diffusion method. Twenty-seven compounds were identified in the essential oil, and the major components were -tagetenone (37.27%), -tagetenone (18.84%), dihydrotagetone (14.38%), and trans-tagetone (5.15%). With regard to antioxidant properties, the IC values obtained for the DPPH, ABTS, and FIC assays were 53.37, 46.38, and 22.65 mg/mL, respectively. These values were lower than those obtained for standard butylated hydroxytoluene and ascorbic acid. In the Rancimat test, antioxidant activity was achieved only at high concentration. essential oil showed a marked antibacterial activity against all bacterial strains at all concentrations assayed. This study demonstrated that essential oil could be considered as an alternative to synthetic antioxidants and antimicrobial agents in the food industry.