ABSTRACT
Chamomile is one of the important medicinal herbs that is native to southern and eastern Europe. True chamomile is an annual plant with thin spindle-shaped roots only, penetrating flatly into the soil. The branched stem is erect and heavily ramified, and grows to a height of 10-80 cm. Extraction of essential oils was performed using hydrodistillation of dried samples of flower heads using a Clevenger-type apparatus over 3 h. Traditionally, chamomile has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, mild astringent, and healing medicine. Chamomile oil is volatile, which means it has the ability to vaporize at room temperature. The extract and essential oil of Roman chamomile flower head showed antibacterial activity against Porphyromonas gingivalis. The antimicrobial effects were evaluated by the disk diffusion method. A purified chamomile extract is specifically prepared for the detection of the pesticide residues in it by Gas chromatography (GC).
