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This study was conceived to examine the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of four essential oil types extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Art emisia herbaalba cultivated in southern Tunisia. The chemical composition was investigated using both capillary GC and GC/MS techniques. beta-thujone, alpha-thujone, alpha-thujone/beta-thujone and 1,8-cineole/camphor/alpha-thujone/beta-thujone were respectively, the major components of these oil types. The antimicrobial activity of different oils was tested using the diffusion method and by determining the inhibition zone. The results showed that all examined oil types had great potential of antimicrobial activity against strains. In addition, antioxidant capacity was assessed by different in vitro tests and weak activity was found for these A. herba-alba oils. (C) 2009 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.