Chemical composition, antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of Artemisia gmelinii essential oil growing wild in Kashmir valley

The present study was carried to observe the phytochemical profile of aromatic constituents of Artemisia gmelinni essential oil using GC-FID, GC-MS and 13C NMR and to evalute anticancer and antioxidant activities. Twenty chemical constituents were detected from EO accounting 92.05% of total oil composition. Oxygenated monoterpenes (73.64%) were dominant class of compounds. The major constituents are isoascaridol (29.70%), alpha-terpinolene (25.37%), phellandrene (9.26%) and ascaridole (4.17%). Ascaridole and isoascaridole are first time identified to be the constituents of this essential oil. The essential oil effectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells and showed maximum anti-proliferative activity at 125µg/mL concentration, but highest inhibition in cell growth was found in A-549 cell line. Our study revealed that EO was effective in restricting the migration of A-549 cells up to 15% than control at 125 µg/mL concentration. The essential oil also showed moderate antioxidant activity.