Abstract

Mostafa E. M. Rateb , Abdel-Nasser A. M. El-Gendy , Seham S. El-Hawary and Ali M. El-Shamy

Phytochemical investigation of Tanacetum parthenium (L.) family Asteraceae cultivated in Egypt resul-ted in isolation and identification of four flavonoids isolated from the aerial part, four sesquiterpene lactones isolated from the leaves, two sterols isolated from the roots. A comparative study of the essential oil content of the leaves and the flower heads was performed using (GC/MS) revealing the presence of 42 and 30 components with the major components camphor (constituted 37.7 and 48.4%) and chrysanthenyl acetate (constituted 33.8 and 26.3%) in the leaves and the flower heads, respectively. Different extracts of T. parthenium (L.) showed significant analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antispasmodic and uterine-stimulant activities in addition to the in vitro cytotoxic effect.