Chemical compositions and antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea of the essential oils from the leaves of three conifer species

Abstract

Chamaecyparis obtusa, Chamaecyparis pisifera, and Thuja occidentalis produce essential oils of good wood and industrial benefits, including food additives, perfumes, odorants and disinfectants. To identify a single antifungal monoterpene with antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea, we identified a single antifungal compound by chemically profiling essential oils from three coniferous species. The antifungal activity of coniferous essential oil was slightly different depending on the species but showed high antifungal activity, and T. occidentalis essential oil had the highest antifungal activity among the three essential oils. The chemical composition of essential oils from three coniferous leaves was profiled using GC-MS. The chemical profiles of C. obtusa and C. pisifera were very similar, but T. occidentalis was relatively different from the two species. The chemical composition of the three conifer oils contained 20 each. As a result of profiling three essential oil components with high antifungal activity, the compounds present in all three species were bornyl acetate and terpinyl acetate. These compounds of C. obtusa essential oil were 26.49%, C. pisifera essential oil 25.04% and T. occidentalis essential oil 12.60%. These two compounds were estimated to be antifungal agents. The antifungal activity of the six monoterpenes was different, and the single monoterpene with the highest antifungal activity was bornyl acetate followed by terpinyl acetate. Therefore, it was possible to search for antifungal activity monoterpene components by chemical profiling. Terpinyl acetate and bornyl acetate can be used for environmental-friendly insecticidal active materials.

Keywords:

• Antifungal activity
• essential oil
• chemical profiling
• bornyl acetate
• terpinyl acetate

Acknowledgements

This study was carried out by the Forest Service's Forest Convergence Specialist Training Project (Support for Forest Industry Characterization Research, FTIS Assignment No. 2020186A00-2022-AA02).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).