Horticulturae 2021, 7, 364. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7100364 www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae Article Phytochemical Traits and Biological Activity of Eryngium amethystinum and E. alpinum (Apiaceae) Dario Kremer 1 , Marijana Zovko Končić 1 , Ivan Kosalec 1 , Iztok Jože Košir 2 , Tanja Potočnik 2 , Andreja Čerenak 2 , Siniša Srečec 3 , Valerija Dunkić 4 and Elma Vuko 4, * 1 Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, A. Kovačića 1, HR‐10000 Zagreb, Croatia; dkremer@pharma.hr (D.K.); mzovko@pharma.hr (M.Z.K.); ikosalec@pharma.hr (I.K.) 2 Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing, Cesta Žalskega tabora 2, SI‐3310 Žalec, Slovenia; iztok.kosir@ihps.si (I.J.K.); tanja.potocnik@ihps.si (T.P.); andreja.cerenak@ihps.si (A.Č.) 3 Križevci College of Agriculture, M. Demerca 1, HR‐48260 Križevci, Croatia; ssrecec@vguk.hr 4 Faculty of Science, University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 33, HR‐21000 Split, Croatia; dunkic@pmfst.hr * Correspondence: elma@pmfst.hr; Tel.: +385‐21‐619‐277 Abstract: Eryngium amethystinum L. is a wild vegetable used in Croatia. Both E. amethystinum and E. alpinum L. are decorative plants that can also be used in horticulture. To find out the hidden qualities of these two species, the following biological activities were studied: essential oil (EO) composition, analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC, GC–MS); phenolic compound content (PC), analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); total phenols as well as total flavonoids, analyzed by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry (UV/Vis); antioxidants, analyzed by 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical‐scavenging activity (DPPH), ‐carotenelinoleic acid assay, chelating activity and reducing power of the extracts; and antimicrobial evaluation by micro‐dilution assay and inhibition of Candida albicans blastospore ger‐ mination. The major constituents of EO were β‐caryophyllene (15.2%), α‐pinene (10.2%) and 2,3,6‐ trimethylbenzaldehyde (9.3%) for E. amethystinum and caryophyllene oxide (27.9%), bicycloger‐ macrene (13.2%) and germacrene D (8.2%) for E. alpinum. The methanol extracts of both species showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial and antifungal activity with minimum inhibitory concen‐ trations (MIC) less than or equal to 1.944 and 1.11 mg/mL, respectively. Keywords: antifungal activity; antimicrobial activity; Candida; essential oils; germ‐tube inhibition; phenolic compounds 1. Introduction The genus Eryngium L. (family Apiacea) includes 230–250 herbs widespread in America, Eurasia, Africa, Malesia and Australia [1]. Twenty‐six species of Eryngium have been recorded in Europe [2] and five in Croatia [3]. Some Eryngium species have been used as remedies, especially in folk medicine, and as horticultural plants. Eryngium creti‐ cum Lam. has been used in folk medicine in Palestine as a diuretic and emmenagogue, and for the treatment of kidney stones and infections, skin diseases and tumours [4]; E. foetidum L. for the treatment of respiratory diseases (cold, cough, asthma, sinusitis) and for diarrhoea and rheumatism in traditional medicine of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe [5]; E. billardieri Delar. for the healing of inflammation in Turkey [6]; E. campestre L. as a diuretic and emmenagogue, in respiratory system and gastric diseases, skin diseases and periodontosis [7]; and E. planum L. for cough [7]. In the folk medicine of Balkan peoples, E. campestre L. is used against hepatitis [8]. In addition, the root, young shoots and leaves of E. amethystinum L., E. campestre and E. maritimum are wild vegetables that are consumed in northern Dalmatia, Croatia [9]. People cook the young shoots and prepare them as asparagus. The young leaves are picked and cooked together with other Citation: Kremer, D.; Končić, M.Z.; Kosalec, I.; Košir, I.J.; Potočnik, T.; Čerenak, A.; Srečec, S.; Dunkić, V.; Vuko, E. Phytochemical Traits and Biological Activity of Eryngium amethystinum and E. alpinum (Apiaceae). Horticulturae 2021, 7, 364. https://doi.org/10.3390/ horticulturae7100364 Academic Editor: Yonghua Yang Received: 12 August 2021 Accepted: 30 September 2021 Published: 5 October 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neu‐ tral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu‐ tional affiliations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Li‐ censee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and con‐ ditions of the Creative Commons At‐ tribution (CC BY) license (http://crea‐ tivecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).