Daucus carota ssp. hispanicus Gouan. essential oils: chemical variability and fungitoxic activity

Abstract

The chemical composition of Algerian Daucus carota ssp. hispanicus Gouan. essential oils has been investigated using gas chromatography/retention indices (GC/RIs) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and their antibacterial and antifungal activities were tested for the first time. Chemical analysis allowed the identification of sixty-eight compounds amounting to 92.3–98.5% of aerial part essential oils and eight components representing 97.4–99.4% of root essential oils. Intra-species variations of the chemical compositions of essential oils from ten Algerian sample locations were investigated using statistical analysis (principal component analysis and cluster analysis). In addition, root essential oils of D. carota ssp. hispanicus were found to be strongly fungicidal and inhibitory to aflatoxin production.

Keywords:

• Daucus carota ssp. hispanicus
• essential oils
• phenylpropanoids
• chemical variability
• antimicrobial and antifungal activities
• aflatoxin inhibitors

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes throughout the ‘Partenariat Hubert Curien Tassili’ research program.