In vitro antifungal activity of the essential oils from Artemisia spp. L. on sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Abstract

Ten Artemisia L. taxa grow in different Romanian areas, as spontaneous flora (A. santonica A. pontica, A. annua, A. austriaca, A. lerchiana, A.vulgaris, A.scoparia) and also cultivated species (A. abrotanum, A. dracunculus, A. dracunculus var.pilosa) were chosen as experimental materials. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal effects of Artemisia spp. essential oils obtained by hydro distillation, against fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary, from carrots roots stored in the refrigerator. The essential oils chemical composition was identified by GC-MS. The inhibition of the fungus mycelium growth was evaluated under in vitro conditions at the concentrations of 0, 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 μL L-1. The mycelium growth inhibition depended on species and was directly proportional to the concentration increase of Artemisia essential oils. The summarizing results showed that after five days, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was found to be 2400 μL L-1 for A. santonica, A. pontica, A. annua, A. austriaca, A. dracunculus, A. lerchiana, A. vulgaris and A. vulgaris var. pilosa. In the case of A. abrotanum MIC was 1200 μL L-1, while A. scoparia did not totally inhibit the mycelium growth in any of the used concentrations. © 2014 University of Bucharest.