Identification of active constituents in the essential oils of Pennyroyal medicinal plant

One of the important components of medicinal plants are essential oils that have many biological effects. The use of natural compounds to control of plant pests and diseases, is one of the ways to reduce environmental hazards. Replacement industrial Fungicides by natural compounds (specially of plant origin) that are not toxic, has attracted a lot of attention. In this experiment, the inhibitory effect of different concentrations of the essential oil of pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.) belonging to the family Lamiaceae, that is an important, economical and high consumption of medicinal plants in Iran, studied against plant pathogenic fungi Fusarium equiseti, Fusarium cerealis، Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lentis, Fusarium proliferatum, Aspergillus niger, Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Results showed that pennyroyal essential oil has a significant effect on inhibiting the growth of pathogenic. Also, the active constituents of the essential oils of pennyroyal medicinal plant was identified using GC / MS.