¹Department of Chemistry and Chemical Processing Technologies, Muğla Vocational School, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla 48000, Turkey
²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla 48000, Turkey DOI : 10.35333/jrp.2019.75 The chemical characterization and antioxidant activities of essential oils of Eryngium pseudothoriifolium Contandr. & Quézel and E. thorifolium Boiss., endemic plant species from Turkey, were investigated. The essential oils obtained by hydro-distillation were analyzed by GC/FID and GC/MS. Thirty and twenty-three compounds representing 99.5% and 99.7% were identified in E. pseudothoriifolium and E. thorifolium essential oils, respectively. The main component of E. pseudothoriifolium oil was falcarinol (84.8%) whereas those of E. thorifolium were α-pinene (31.9%), caryophyllene oxide (21.6%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (11.1%). The antioxidant capacities of the essential oils were tested by several methods including β-carotene-linoleic acid, radical scavenging (DPPH and ABTS) and reducing power (CUPRAC) assays. The essential oil of E. pseudothoriifolium with the high amount of falcarinol exhibited the best antioxidant activity in all assays. The results of the present study supported the possible uses of Eryngium essential oils as a valuable source of natural antioxidant in food and pharmaceutical industries. Keywords : Eryngium pseudothoriifolium; Eryngium thorifolium; essential oil; chemical characterization; antioxidant activity