Pelargonium graveolens L’Her. and Artemisia arborescens L. essential oils: Chemical composition, antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani and insecticidal activity against Rhysopertha dominica

Abstract

The chemical composition of the Pelargonium graveolens essential oil allowed the identification of 15 compounds (93.86% of the total essential oil). The major fractions were citronellol (35%) and geraniol (28.8%). The chemical composition of the Artemisia arborescens essential oil revealed twenty-one compounds representing 93.57% of the total essential oil. The main compounds were chamazulene (31.9%) and camphor (25.8%). The insecticidal effects were tested towards the insect Rhysopertha dominica. Results revealed that these two essential oils were highly effective against R. dominica at the dose of 50 µL on Petri dish of 8.5 cm of diameter. The antifungal activity was evaluated against Rhizoctonia solani and results showed that both of the essential oils were highly active at a dose of 12.5 µL/20 mL of PDA. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of P. graveolens essential oil was evidenced as stronger than that of the A. arborescens oil for all the tested doses.

Keywords:

• Artemisia arborescens
• Pelargonium graveolens
• Rhizoctonia solani
• Rhyzopertha dominica
• essential oil
• GC-MS
• insecticidal and antifungal effects

Acknowledgements

Authors thank the members of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Immunology and Biotechnology – Faculty of Sciences of Tunis and the Departments of Biology and Chemistry – Faculty of Sciences of Gafsa, for assisting in this research.