In vitro efficacy of 75 essential oils against Aspergillus niger

Abstract

Aspergillus niger is an opportunistic human pathogen and a strong air pollutant. A study was conducted with 75 different essential oils for the inhibition of hyphal growth and spore formation in Aspergillus niger. Cinnamomum zeylanicum (bark), Cinnamomum zeylanicum (leaf), Cinnamomum cassia, Syzygium aromaticum and Cymbopogon citratus were the top five essential oils which demonstrated marked inhibitory effect against hyphal growth and spore formation of A. niger. The chemical composition of these five most active essential oils was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectra (GC-MS). Most of the other essential oils were found challenging to combat A. niger, suggesting their use as strong aroma therapeutic agents.

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“…This is in agreement with the reports of some earlier workers [27][28][29][30]. The inhibitory effects of plant extracts on different pathogens of crops have been widely reported [13,15,31,32].…”

Identification and Quantification of the Major Fungitoxic Components of the Brazilian Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) Essential Oil

“…An emulsion spray (0.16%) of the Indian basil was effective in controlling crown rot in banana (Herath & Abeywickrama, 2008). Basil EO showed an inhibitory effect on A. niger (Pawar & Thaker, 2006), F. oxysporum (Pawar & Thaker, 2007), A. flavus and A. ochraceous (Soliman & Badeaa, 2002). However, the chemical composition of the EO was not reported in these studies.…”

Insecticidal Activity of Extracts Isolated from Syzygium Aromaticum

“…The major component of S. aromaticumis nomally considered to be eugenol, along with β-caryophyllene and lesser amounts of other components such as benzyl alcohol, however the proportions vary widely. For example, Prashar et al (2006) found the content of eugenoland β -caryophylleneto be 78% and 13%, whereas Pawar and Thaker (2006) found that the content of eugenol was 47.64%, and an aromatic agent for food, and as a fragrance in the cosmetic industry, and it is also commonly used in dentistry for sedation of toothache, pulpitis, and dental hyperalgesia (Chaieb et al 2007). Several biological actions of eugenol have previously been reported, namely antibacterial (Shokeen et al 2008), and antifungal (Gayoso et al 2005) activities.…”