Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the chemical composition, antibacterial of essential oil and chromosome numbers from Helichrysum lacteum variety typicum endemic to Algeria. Samples of H. lacteum were collected in the flowering stage, in eastern Algeria locality. The air dried materials were subjected to a hydrodistillation which gave a viscous liquid with pale yellow oil. The chemical composition of the essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC / MS. A total 46 compounds representing 95.74% of the total oil were identified in H. lacteum. The chemical composition is dominated by the presence of major products, hexadecanoic acid (12.62%), caryophyllene (E) (10.58%), farnesyl acetone (5Z, 9E) (8.25%), α-pinene (7.99%), α- humulene (5.88%), nonanal-n (5.30%), humulene epoxide II (2.99%), caryolan-8-ol (2.82%), α-cadinol-epi (2.67%), γ-dodecalactone (2.49%), octanal-n (2.14%). The Essential oil of H. lacteum was tested for five microorganisms. The oil showed modest effect against all the bacteria tested. The population of H. lacteum shows a tertraploïde chromosome number, 2n = 4x = 28, with a basic number x = 7.

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