Abstract

• A readily available local carrot seeds was selected for the investigation of some bioactivities of essential oil. The essential oil of carrot seeds was extracted by steam distillation using Clevenger’s apparatus; the yield % of 0.96 was obtained, and GC-MS analysis showed twenty-one compounds and by comparison of the mass spectra of eluted compound against respective standards showed mono- and sesquiterpenes/terpenoids and a phenol dimer in the oil extracted. Screening of antimicrobial activity by agar well diffusion method showed highest activity for the essential oil (20-25 mm), lower activity for the alcohol extracts (10-16 mm), and no activity for watery and petroleum ether extracts. Antioxidant activity of the essential oil was higher (IC50 0.9 μg/mL) than ascorbic acid standard (IC50 1.17 μg/mL) by DPPH assay method, with lower activities for the crude extracts (in H2O and EtOH).