Comparison of the composition and fungicidal activity of essential oils from fennel fruits cultivated in Poland and Egypt

Abstract

The yield, composition and fungicidal activity of essential oils obtained from fennel fruits cultivated in Poland (FEOPOL) and Egypt (FEO-EG) were compared. The influence of the duration of hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus on the essential oil yield was studied. The composition of the fennel essential oils was determined by GC-MS method. Studies have shown that FEO-POL and FEO-EG are two distinct chemotypes, which differ in yield and composition. The fennel fruits cultivated in Poland contained 4.14% of essential oil with trans-anethole as a main component. The plant material from Egypt was characterised by low content of essential oil (1.32%) with a predominant share of estragole. The fungicidal activity was tested in vitro against ten species of pathogenic fungi. The best result for FEO-POL was achieved against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani and Botrytis cinerea. Antifungal activity of FEO-EG against tested fungi was weak or none.

Determination of chemical compositions and antifungal activities of laurel and fennel essential oils against fungal disease agents of cypress seedlings

“…Trans-anethole and estragole are the major constituents of the essential oils of different fennel chemotypes. Trans-anethole differs from its isomer estragole in the position of the double bond of prophenyl chain as reported (Gross et al, 2002;Ahmed et al, 2019;Wodnicka et al, 2019). High presence of trans-anethole in our sample clearly reveals that our sample is trans-anethole-rich chemotype of fennel.…”

The Fungicidal Effect of Essential Oils of Fennel and Hops against Fusarium Disease of Pea

“…The antifungal activity of EOs has been investigated in numerous in vitro studies [32,40,49]. In the present study, in vitro analysis of the linear growth of the fungal species studied showed differences in the antifungal potential of the essential oils investigated.…”

“…The opposite results were obtained by Wodnicka et al [49], who investigated the antifungal properties of dill seed essential oil at a concentration of 10 ppm. The analysed oil reduced the mycelial growth of F. graminearum by 48.8%, of F. avenaceum by 13.3% and of F. culmorum by only 6.2%.…”

“…The oil extracted from the fruits of F. vulgare grown in Poland was most effective against F. graminearum (MGI of 48.8%), followed by F. avenaceum (13.3%) and F. culmorum (6.2%) [49]. Egyptian fennel essential oil was also most effective against F. graminearum, but the reduction in mycelial growth was only 28.8%.…”

“…Many authors have postulated that the antimicrobial activity of essential oils is closely related to the content of various constituents, especially the major components [50,51]. According to Wodnicka et al [49], the differences in antifungal activity of essential oils isolated from fennel seeds can be attributed to their chemical polymorphism. The essential oil obtained from the seeds of fennel plants grown in Poland contained the highest levels of trans-anethole (69.95%) and fenchone (18.14%) and showed strong antifungal activity.…”