CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLATILE EXTRACT OF ARTEMISIA HERBA-ALBA AND STUDY OF ITS ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES AND ITS INHIBITIONORY EFFECT ON CORROSION OF ALUMINUM IN HYDROGEN CHLORIDE SOLUTION

The chemical composition of the essential oil of Artemisia herba-alba obtained by hydrodistillation was determined by chromatographic analysis (GC and GC-MS). Seventy-nine components were identified, which accounted for 93.3% of the total essential oil. The major components were chrysanthenone (24.1 %), camphor (16,2%), α-thujone (12.8 %) and 1,8-cineole (9.3%). The investigated volatile extract showed potency antimicrobial activity, against all the studied bacterial strains (MIC values not exceeding 2 μg/mL). Also, this oil showed substantial antifungal activity MIC less than 0.5μg/mL for Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium expansum. Compared to BHA and BHT which were acted as positive controls, the essential oil was the less active to inhibit the free radical DPPH insofar it failed to reach a scavenging capability of 50%. The oil was also tested for its corrosion inhibitor of pure aluminum in HCl (1 mol./L) using electrochemical techniques (potentiodynamic polarization, open circuit potential, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and gravimetric measurements. The results reveal that the inhibition effectiveness was dose-dependent of the oil concentration (maximum corrosion inhibition = 94.3% for an optimal concentration of 0.8 g / L). These findings suggest that this essential oil may be a new green inhibitor agent against corrosion in hydrogen chloride solution media and could be used on food systems as an effective inhibitor of foodborne pathogens as well as for pharmaceutical applications.