Chemical Variability and Antifungal Activity of Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Masters Woods and Leaves Essential Oils Against Wood Decaying Fungi

Abstract

The coniferous tree, Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Masters, commonly known as Barbary thuya is endemic to the western Mediterranean areas. Its woods, mainly root burl, were very appreciated by artisans for their natural beauty, homogeneity and good quality destined for marquetry and furniture. Use of essential oils (EOs) of this species opens a second way for valorization in many fields as bioactive agents. EOs were extracted, by hydrodistillation from sawdust and leaves samples originated from two thuya populations, and analyzed by GC-MS. Yields of EOs varied greatly depending on biomass type and samples origin. EOs of leaves are dominated by monoterpens, and contain α-pinene, camphor, and bornyl acetate as major compounds. Those of woods are however rich in sesquiterpens, and contain 3-tera-butyl-4-methoxyphenol, thymol, cedrol, and α-cedrene as major compounds. Antifungal bioassay, by direct contact in malt-agar medium, of these EOs conducted on four wood decaying fungi, showed that root burl wood EOs possess the best antifungal inhibitory power related to their richness in phenols (above 64%), followed by those of trunk wood; while leaves EOs showed, however a less antifungal activity. Such antifungal potency of wood thuya EOs allows us to recommend the use of these oils extracted from sawdust as preservative agents for less durable woods.

Repellent properties against four Ascomycota species and Reticulitermes flavipes of acetonic extractives from Cedrus atlantica sapwood to inner heartwood fractions

“…Fidah et al (2016) highlighted that the durability class of Cedrus atlantica wood was positively correlated with the bioactivity of sawdust essential oil against lignovorous fungi. By performing bioassays, Fidah et al (2016Fidah et al ( , 2017 highlighted that both Tetraclinis articulata and Cedrus atlantica woods, ranking from durable to very durable in natural durability classes (Fidah et al, 2015(Fidah et al, , 2016, possess extractive compounds with strong activity against wood-destroying fungi.…”