Chemical composition and antifungal activity of essential oils from medicinal plants of Kazakhstan

<p>The composition of essential oils from leaves of Kazakhstan medicinal plants was analysed by GC-MS. The major compounds identified were 1,8-cineole (34.2%), myrcene (19.1%) and α-pinene (9.4%) in <i>Ajania fruticulosa</i>; 1,8-cineole (21.0%), β-thujone (11.0%), camphor (8.5%), borneol (7.3%) and α-thujone (6.5%), in <i>Achillea nobilis</i>; camphor (47.3%), 1,8-cineole (23.9%), camphene (9.8%) and β-thujone (6.0%) in <i>Artemisia terrae-albae</i>; 1,8-cineole(55.8%) and β-pinene (6.2%) in <i>Hyssopus ambiguus</i>; α-thuyene(46.3%) and δ-cadinene(6.3%) in <i>Juniperus sibirica</i>; sabinene (64%) in <i>Juniperus sabina</i>; and α-pinene (51.5%), β-phellandrene (11.2%) and δ-cadinene (6.3%) in <i>Pinus sibirica</i>. The essential oils did not show antifungal effect (MIC > 1.20 mg/mL) on <i>Aspergillus carbonarius</i> and <i>Aspergillus niger</i>, while the oils from <i>A. nobilis</i>, <i>A. terrae-albae</i>, <i>H. ambiguus</i> and <i>J. sabina</i> exhibited moderate and moderate to weak antimicrobial activities on <i>Fusarium verticillioides</i> (MIC = 0.60 mg/mL) and <i>Fusarium graminearum</i> (MIC = 0.60–1.20 mg/mL), respectively. A principal component analysis associated the antifungal activity (<i>r</i>² > 0.80, <i>p</i> = 0.05) with the presence of borneol, camphor, camphene, 1,8-cineole,α- and β-thujone, and of the oxygenated monoterpenes.</p