Chemical composition, antifungal activity and toxicity of essential oils from leaves of chimonanthus praecox and chimonanthus zhejiangensis

Abstract

Essential oils of two Calycanthaceae species, including Chimonanthus praecox and Chimonanthus zhejiangensis, harvested in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, extracted by hydrodistillation, were analyzed by GC/MS. The antifungal activity of the oils against eight phytopathogenic fungi (Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium graminearum, Cylindrocarpon destructans, Helminthosporium turcicum, Colletorichum gloeosporioides, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Monilinia fructicola) was tested by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations using the microdilution method. The two oils exhibited potent antifungal activities with MIC values of 8-32 μg/mL. The two oils were considered bioactive, showing an LC50 value of 32 and 38 μg/mL in the Artemia salina lethality test.