Seasonal study of methyleugenol chemotype of ocimum campechianum essential oil and its fungicidal and antioxidant activities

Abstract

Ocimum species (Lamiaceae) have aroused great interest to the scientific community with respect to different biological properties attributed to their essential oils. The seasonal variation and antioxidant and fungical activities were carried out for the essential oil of Ocimum campechianum. Its essential oil showed an excellent yield (0.5-5.3%) throughout the season. The essential oils of leaves/stems and inflorescences were analyzed by GC and GC-MS to identify their volatile constituents and associate them with the antioxidant and antifungal activities. Methyleugenol was the main component in the leaves/stems (80.0-87.0%) and inflorescences (75.3-83.5%). The essential oil and the methyleugenol standard showed low antioxidant activity (<40%) against DPPH radical, but high antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum gossypii phytopatogens as well as the mycelial growth and spore germination of the fungi. The high levels of methyleugenol coupled with good fungicidal activity give great agroindustrial potential to this Ocimum species.