Antiplatelet, antibacterial and antifungal activities of Achillea falcata extracts and evaluation of volatile oil composition

The antiplatelet, antibacterial and antifungal effects of various extracts obtained from Jordanian Achillea falcata L. were studied. Chemical composition of the volatile oil hydrodistilled from the plant aerial parts was also evaluated by GC and GC/MS. Among the 41 constituents identified in the oil, camphor (17.0%), 1,8-cineole (15.9%), p-cymene (11.3%) and β-thujone (9.8%) were the major components. The volatile oil exhibited potent antibacterial activity against standard and resistant strains of both gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The oil showed also significant inhibition against Candida albicans and Trichosporon cutaneum. Alcoholic extract revealed good activity against Escherichia coli, resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeurogenosa and C. albicans. It also showed significant inhibitory effect against platelet aggregation induced by collagen and ADP (IC50: 48.1, 112.1 µg/ml respectively). The aqueous extract revealed moderate activity against fungal species, in particular C. albicans, while it showed no inhibition against blood aggregation induced either by collagen or ADP.