in this study, chemical profile, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial interactions with conventional antimicrobials of essential oil (eo) isolated from cladanthus scariosus aerial parts were investigated. the eo was analyzed by gc-ms (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). forty-three components representing 98.7% of the oil were identified. the main components were o-cymene, caryophyllene oxide, -terpinene and -sabinene. furthermore, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities against ten bacteria and two candida strains were assessed. the results showed an interesting antioxidant effect with ic50 of 1.04 +/- 0.04 mg/ml, 0.55 +/- 0.01 mg/ml and 0.36 +/- 0.14 mg/ml, respectively, for dpph (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), frap (ferric-reducing-ability-power), and abts (2-2'azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) methods. the eo exhibited a strong antimicrobial activity, especially against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and candida glabrata. in combination with antimicrobials, the studied eo revealed a high synergism effect in reducing gentamicin mics of bacterial strains by 128- to 256-fold and by 2- to 8-fold fluconazole mics against candida strains.