J Arthropod-Borne Dis, June 2015, 9(1): 104–115 F Golfakhrabadi et al.: Biological Activities … 104 Original Article Biological Activities and Composition of Ferulago carduchorum Essential Oil Fereshteh Golfakhrabadi 1 , Mahnaz Khanavi 1,2 , Seyed Nasser Ostad 3 , Soodabeh Saeidnia 4 , Hassan Vatandoost 5 , Mohammad Reza Abai 5 , Mitra Hafizi 1 , Fatemeh Yousefbeyk 6 , Yaghoob Razzaghi Rad 1 , Ameneh Baghenegadian 1 , *Mohammad Reza Shams Ardekani 1,2 1 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Traditional Pharmacy, Faculty of Traditional Medicine and Persian Medicine and Pharmacy Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 4 Medicinal Plants Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 5 Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 6 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran (Received 18 Aug 2013; accepted 28 June 2014) Abstract Background: Ferulago carduchorum Boiss and Hausskn belongs to the Apiaceae family. This plant grows in west part of Iran that local people added it to dairy and oil ghee to delay expiration date and give them a pleasant taste. The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, acetyl cholinesterase inhibition, cytotoxic, larvicidal activities and composition of essential oil of F. carduchorum. Methods: Acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory, larvicidal activities and chemical composition of essential oil of F. carduchorum were investigated. Besides, antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of essential oil were tested using DPPH, microdilution method and MTT assay, respectively. Results: The major components of essential oil were (z)- -ocimene (43.3%), -pinene (18.23%) and bornyl acetate (3.98%). Among 43 identified components, monoterpenes were the most compounds (84.63%). The essential oil had noticeable efficiency against Candida albicans (MIC= 2340 μg ml -1 ) and it was effective against Anopheles stephensi with LC 50 and LC 90 values of 12.78 and 47.43 ppm, respectively. The essential oil could inhibit AChE (IC 50 = 23.6 μl ml -1 ). The essential oil showed high cytotoxicity on T47D, HEP-G2 and HT-29 cell lines (IC 50 <2 g ml -1 ). Conclusion: The essential oil of F. carduchorum collected from west of Iran had anti-Candida, larvicidal and cyto- toxicity effects and should be further investigated in others in vitro and in vivo experimental models. Keywords: Ferulago carduchorum, Essential oil, Antimicrobial, Antiacetyl cholinesterase, Larvicidal activity Introduction Ferulago carduchorum Boiss and Hausskn (Apiaceae) known as an endemic plant of Iran, grows in west part of Iran (Mozaffarian 2007). In west of Iran, F. carduchorum has been traditionally added to dairy and oil ghee to increase hold time and give them a pleasant taste. In the past, this plant was used as natural preservative to delay expiration date of meat, too. Some species of Ferulago are benefit for remedy of digestive pains, hem- orrhoid (Sodeifian et al. 2011), disease of spleen, headache, ulcers and snake bites (Demetzos et al. 2000). Phytochemical studies on Ferulago species have led to identification of different coumarins (Ognyanov et al. 1969, Andrianova et al. 1975, Serkerov et al. 1976, Sklyar et al. 1982, De Pascual et al. 1979, Doganca et al. 1991, *Corresponding author: Dr Mohammad Reza Shams Ardekani, Email: shams@tums.ac.ir http://jad.tums.ac.ir Published Online: July 16, 2014