Exploring three Sicilian species of Daucus L. from Sicily: chemical composition of essential oils and antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and antioxidant properties

Author : Antonella Porrello

Abstract :Daucus is a large genus of Apiaceae, comprising around forty-five accepted species with a large distribution in Europa, Africa, America, and Australia. Species of this genus have been reported to have several ethnopharmacological activities, and some of them are also largely used as food and spices. In Sicily, several subspecies of Daucus are present, among them D. aureus Desf., D. nebrodenis Strobl., and D. muricatus (L.) L., objects of this communication. We investigated the essential oils (EOs) of these three species, obtained from the aerial parts collected wild near Messina and Agrigento, and never previously phytochemically studied. The chemical composition of the essential oils was evaluated by GC-MS analysis. D. aureus EO showed, as main class, monoterpene hydrocarbons followed by alkanes, which instead represent the principal classes in D. muricatus EO; D. nebrodensis EO was shown to be particularly rich in monoterpene hydrocarbons, with sabinene (33.6%), α-pinene (17.2%), γ-terpinene (9.8%), and α-terpinene (7.6%) as main metabolites. The EO and and its main constituents, were tested to evaluate their antimicrobial properties. The results showed activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Among tested components, the most active appear to be sabinene and α-pinene. Additionally, antibiofilm properties, antioxidant activities, and mechanisms of action were evaluated. The EO demonstrates potential inhibitory and disruptive activities against the biofilm of M. smegmatis, as well as antioxidant properties. α-Pinene seems to damage bacterial membranes, while the other components don’t show same effect, suggesting possible synergism among the individual components for EO antimicrobial activity

Keywords :Legacy System, Reengineering, SOA, Clustering, K-Means.

Conference Name :World Congress on Medicinal Plants & Natural Products Research (WCMPNPR-25)

Conference Place Colombo Sri Lanka

Conference Date 19th Sep 2025