Abstract
Despite the availability of numerous reports on the discovery of medicinal plant compounds and their properties, one may encounter contradictory results released by these reports at the level of plant families and even within species. To establish an accurate perspective of the Apiaceae family, this study examined the fruit essential oil and methanolic extract of wild and common species of this family. According to the measurement of the antioxidant property in the methanolic extract of the fruits using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, Ferula gummosa, Pimpinella anisum and Cuminum cyminum have high power in inhibiting free radicals. However, Bunium persicum had the strongest DPPH radicals inhibitory potential among all essential oils. The results of antimicrobial tests and their classification analysis showed that C. cyminum and B. persicum fruit essential oil with a high amount of cuminaldehyde had the most antibacterial properties. At the same time, the antifungal properties of H. persicum essential oil (rich in aliphatic ester) were stronger than those of the all the studied plants. Also, the essential oils of F. gummosa and Kelussia odoratissima had favourable antimicrobial properties compared to other studied plants. The investigation of the bacterial structure by scanning electron microscope confirmed the effect of the applied essential oils dose and their antibacterial potential. In general, for the first time, this paper determined the biological values of the fruit essential oil of some wild plants, such as K. odoratissima and H. persicum. Besides, in vitro examination and the mathematical models provided a suitable classification, which makes a comprehensive view in terms of the properties of the Apiaceae family.