Chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oils of seven Moroccan Labiatae against Botrytis cinerea Pers: Fr.

Essential oils of seven Moroccan Labiatae were chemically analysed by GC-MS and evaluated for their in vitro antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea. Among them, Origanum compactum and Thymus glandulosus greatly inhibited the growth of the mycelium. The inhibition of Botrytis cinerea was 100% for both oils at 100ppm, while the IC50s were 35.1 and 79.2ppm, respectively. Mentha pulegium exhibited moderate activity at 250ppm since the inhibition of the mycelial growth was 58.5% and the IC50 was 233.5ppm. The main constituents of the studied oils were also examined. Thymol and carvacrol that are the two main constituents of Thymus glandulosus and Origanum compactum exhibited the strongest antifungal activity with 100% of inhibition at 100ppm, respectively. © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.