Composition and antioxidant activity of Nepeta foliosa essential oil from Sardinia (Italy)

The feline attractant properties of several Nepeta species have been known for a long time; in fact the activity of nepetalactone and also of its isomers on the olfactory sense of domestic cats (Felix domestica) was proven in 1969 [10]. The antioxidant activity was evaluated “in vitro” only in Nepeta flavida essential oil from Turkey [11] and Nepeta cataria from Lithuania [12] by DPPH and beta-carotene bleaching tests. In this study we characterized for the first time the chemical constituents of the essential oil of Nepeta foliosa, an endemic species of Sardinia Island (Italy), and investigated its antioxidant activity by two “in vitro” systems. In Table 1 are summarized 16 compounds representing 96.4% of the essential oil (yield 0.1% v/w). GC and GC/MS analyses revealed nepetalactone (31.17%) and linalool (15.24%) as the main components, amounting to 46.41% of the total oil. 1,8-Cineole (eucalyptol) (12.54%), β-pinene (8.93%), and geranyl acetate (5.52%) were the other constituents of the essential oil studied.