The present study was aimed to investigation the secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds in different organs of Tanacetum parthenium L., commonly known as feverfew, which has been utilized to treat a variety of diseases, specially cancer, migraine and fever. The present study was conducted based on a randomized complete block design. The gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyse the essential oil quality. The parthenolide yield was determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The anthocyanin content was measured based on spectrophotometric method. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay. The phenolic and flavonoid content were evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and aluminum chloride colorimetric method, respectively. The results revealed that the flower contained the highest essential oil content (1.75 %). The major constituents in all organs (leaves, flowers, roots, and seeds) were farnesol (36.31 %), bornyl acetate (26.18 %), spathuleno (24.38 %), camphor (20.36 %), Z-spiroether (19.3 %), bornyl angelate (17.07 %), neointermedeol (16.44 %), and borneol (12.96 %). The content of parthenolide in the assayed samples varied from 0.08 to 1.09 mg g− 1 DW, with the highest content found in the flowers (1.09 mg g− 1 DW) and the lowest contents in the roots (0.08 mg g− 1 DW). Antioxidant activity varied between 62.28 % and 76.67 %, with the highest levels detected in the roots and flowers. The highest contents of total flavonoids content (1.07 mg quercetin g− 1 DW), total phenolic compounds (22.19 mg gallic acid g− 1 DW), and anthocyanin (0.107 mg g− 1 DW) were observed in leaf extracts. Overall, our fndings indicated that the leaves and flowers of T. parthenium are the best sources for obtaining rich extracts of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds. Therefore, determining each organ’s metabolite potential can provide insights into the targeted production of metabolites in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Furthermore, representing the correlations between various compounds can be used to detect the synthesis pathways of specifc metabolites.
