SPECTRAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF FATTY ACIDS METHYL ESTERS ISOLATED FROM ALGERIAN CITRULLUS COLOCYNTHIS L. SEEDS

The present work was aimed at evaluating antifungal effect of the fraction of fatty acids methyl esters isolated from the seeds of Citrullus colo cynthis against two toxigenic fungal strains ( Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus ochraceus ). The evaluation of antifungal activity was carried out by two methods: the radial growth solid medium and the evaluation of the biomass liquid medium. The seeds und erstudy provided acceptable yields of oils and esters. The characterization of these oils and their corresponding methyl esters was carried out by spectroscopic analysis. The reading o f the GC/MS spectrum revealed the richness of these oils in α - linolenic acid and linoleic acid. The results of the antifungal activity showed that the crude esters and their corresponding major esters have exhibited a pronounced antifungal power. This effect was very important on the solid medium and more pronounced for A. flavus. The major esters provided the best antifungal index [IAF = 51.67±0.40 % A. flavus, IAF A. ochraceus = 35.58 ± 0.37 %] compared to crude esters [IAF A. flavus = 48.64 ± 0.28 % IAF A. ochraceus = 28.37 ± 0.17 % ]. These finding suggest that Citrullus coloquinthis L. seeds are an interesting source of fatty acids methyl esters having antifungal potentialities allowing them to be used as preservative compounds against toxigenic fungi.