Antifungal activities of essential oils from six conifers against Aspergillus fumigatus

Abstract

The antifungal activities of the essential oils from Pinus densiflora, Pinus koraiensis, Abies holophylla, Larix kaempferi, Cryptomeria japonica and Chamaecyparis obtusa against Aspergillus fumigatus were evaluated. Essential oils were extracted from each conifer leaves for 8 h using water distillation method. The essential oil from A. holophylla appeared the strongest antifungal activity among the six oils with MIC value 0.125 mg/mℓ. The composition of the A. holophylla oil was analysed by GC/MS and then MIC was determined for main constituents of the oil. As the results, borneol and α-bisabolol, which have a hydroxyl group, showed effective antifungal activities against A. fumigatus (0.25 mg/mℓ). In addition, the synergistic antifungal effects were observed in the combination of borneol and α-bisabolol.