Fungicidal Activity of Essential Oils from Cinnamomum cassia against the Pathogenic Fungi of Panax notoginseng Diseases

Abstract

The frequent disease of Panax notoginseng caused by the pathogenic fungi in field cultivation has become the major threaten to the sustainable development of it. The present study was conducted to find natural agent with potential inhibition against pathogen. Therefore, the inhibitory effects of Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J.Presl essential oils (EOs) against P. notoginseng associated pathogenic fungi were conducted both in vitro and in vivo experiments. The results of the Oxford cup test revealed that C. cassia dry bark EO (50 mg/mL) had significant inhibitory activity on the growth of all tested fungi, and the growth of various pathogens was completely inhibited, except for that of Fusarium solani. Therefore, the constituents of C. cassia EOs were analyzed by GC/MS, and the research demonstrated that the main constituents of C. cassia dry bark EO were trans‐cinnamaldehyde (75.65 %), (E)‐2‐methoxycinnamaldehyde (6.08 %), cinnamaldehyde (3.47 %) and cinnamyl acetate (1.02 %). The MIC results showed that C. cassia dry bark EO and the main compounds had good antifungal effect on the tested strains, and the inhibitory effect was similar to that of hymexazol (chemical pesticide). By analyzing the value of the fraction inhibitory concentration index (FICI), additive effects, irrelevant effects and synergistic effects were observed after the mixture of hymexazol against various pathogens. Moreover, in vivo model showed that C. cassia dry bark EO could reduce the occurrence of anthrax in P. notoginseng. To widen the resources of C. cassia available, the compositions of both C. cassia fresh bark and leaf EOs were also tested and many common compositions existed among them. Taken together, it was concluded that C. cassia EO had the potential use in the field to reduce the pathogenic disease.

Effects of Origanum vulgare essential oil and its two main components, carvacrol and thymol, on the plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea

“…vulgare populations from the Asian area have been poorly explored. In addition, many kinds of EOs, such as Cinnamomum cassia ( Ma et al, 2019 ), Litsea cubeba ( Yang et al, 2010 ) and Zanthoxylum leprieurii ( Tanoh et al, 2020 ), etc., have also great potential in the control of plant disease. Moreover, the researches on Origanum EOs and its main components against plant pathogens mainly focus on the antimicrobial activities ( De Martino et al, 2009a ; Stefanakis et al, 2013 ), while the mechanism of antifungal action is still unclear and the actual application is also necessary to be evaluated.…”

Antifungal activity of essential oils from Cinnamomum cassia, Myristica fragrans and Syzygium aromaticum against Rhodotorula mucilaginosa

“…In a study conducted by Cavalcanti and Almeida (10), the oil of this species demonstrated antifungal activity against strains of Candida albicans isolated from HIV positive patients and standard strain (ATCC 76845), with a MIC value of 64 μg/mL being observed for the most part of the strains analyzed. MA et al (9), have already proved the antifungal property of C. cassia oil against pathogenic fungi present in Panax notoginseng, a plant widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Research specifically focused on the action of cinnamaldehyde has shown action against Malassezia pachydermatis with MIC of up to 2.5 µg/mL (44) and against clinical isolates of Candida resistant to fluconazole, presenting MIC of 90 up to 100 µg/mL (45).…”

“…It has already been found that the same essential oil can present different antifungal activity and mechanism of action when it is tested against different pathogens (54,55). Such a result may be associated with the complexity and diversity of antifungal mechanisms (9). According to studies in the field, the mechanism of antifungal action of the Cinnamomum cassia essential oil may be associated with the CHO group present in the molecule of the cinnamaldehyde.…”

“…According to studies in the field, the mechanism of antifungal action of the Cinnamomum cassia essential oil may be associated with the CHO group present in the molecule of the cinnamaldehyde. Thus, considering the fact that CHO group is hydrophilic, the cinnamaldehyde can easily absorb the hydrophilic constituents of the surface of the fungi, facilitating its penetration into the cell wall and, consequently, causing the death of the cell (9). For the essential oil of Syzygium aromaticum, the mechanism of antifungal action may be related to eugenol, its main constituent, and its ability to disturb the integrity and permeability of the fungal cell membrane, which may cause irreversible damage to the cell.…”

“…Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J. Presl (cinnamon-of-china) is an aromatic plant, belonging to the Lauraceae family widely used in cooking and fragrance production (8). It originates in China and is widely cultivated in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam (9). In folk medicine, it is used to treat inflammatory processes, fever, and hypertension.…”