Essential Oil Composition, Antioxidant, Cytotoxic and Antiviral Activities of Teucrium pseudochamaepitys Growing Spontaneously in Tunisia

The chemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antiviral activities of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Teucrium pseudochamaepitys (Lamiaceae) collected from Zaghouan province of Tunisia are reported. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Thirty-one compounds were identified representing 88.6% of the total essential oil. Hexadecanoic acid was found to be the most abundant component (26.1%) followed by caryophyllene oxide (6.3%), myristicin (4.9%) and α-cubebene (3.9%). The antioxidant capacity of the oil was measured on the basis of the scavenging activity to the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The IC(50) value of the oil was evaluated as 0.77 mg·mL(−1). In addition, the essential oil was found to possess moderate cytotoxic effects on the HEp-2 cell line (50% cytotoxic concentration (CC(50)) = 653.6 µg·mL(−1)). The potential antiviral effect was tested against Coxsackievirus B (CV-B), a significant human and mouse pathogen that causes pediatric central nervous system disease, commonly with acute syndromes. The reduction of viral infectivity by the essential oil was measured using a cytopathic (CPE) reduction assay.