Antifungal activity and chemical composition of eucalypt (Eucalyptus leucoxylon L.) essential oil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the antifungal activity of eucalypt essential oil against some microorganisms during fruit storage of Washington Navel Orange. In this experiment, we used of 0, 200 and 400 μl concentration of eucalypt essential oil as spray and floating for 10 and 20 min on polluted fruits against Penicillium digitutum and P. italicum. Also, the chemical composition of the eucalypt oil was investigated using thin Gas chromatography and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. This investigation was performed by the completely random design with three replications. Essential oil of eucalypt showed antifungal activity against P. digitutum in both of spray and floating applications. High inhibitory effect on P. digitutum in spray and floating were obtained at 400 and 200 μl for 10 min, respectively. No activity was observed against P. italicum in spray method, whereas Antifungal activity was observed in floating (400 μl for 10 min). The GC and GC-MS screening revealed the presence of 1,8-cineol (43.48%), p-cymene (40.997%), α-Pinene (9.4%), α- phellandrene (1.399%), δ-terpinen (1.53%), 4-terpineol (0.547%) and α- terpineol (0.403%) in eucalypt oil. The total flavonoid and phenolic contents were high, which suggests that the strong antifungal activity of eucalypt may be due to high levels of phenolic and flavonoid compounds

Keywords

• Antifungal activity, Eucalypt Essential oil, Penicillium digitutum, Penicillium italicum