Azzedine FerchaAzzeddine Zeraib2024-03-132024-03-132019-05-20http://dspace.univ-khenchela.dz:4000/handle/123456789/4230a b s t r a c t The chemical composition and the biological activities of the essential oil (EO) extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Algerian population of Santolina africana have been studied. S. Africana EO was chemically characterized by means of GC–MS. Forty-six compounds were identified representing ∼92% of the total oil. β-pinene (11.65%), ger- macrene (10.33%), 1,8-Cineole (9.46%) and sabinene (7.18%) were the major components. The EO antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH assay. All EO concentrations showed considerable scavenging ability on DPPH radicals (IC 50 < 1.13 mg.mL −1 ). The antibacterial screening of EO alone and in combination with three conventional antibiotics (ABs) was made by way of disc diffusion against four standard strains. The interactive effects be- tween EO and ABs were evaluated using the One-way ANOVA analysis. The results showed a remarkable antibacterial activity of S. africana EO against Staphylococcus aureus (29 mm), Escherichia coli (29.27 mm) and Bacillus subtilis (15 mm). Excluding the antagonistic effect observed with cefazolin, the combined application of S. africana EO with the other two antibiotics led to synergistic and additive effects. These findings show the potential use of S. africana EO as an interesting source of potent antioxidant and antibiotic components useful for medicine.enArticle