Antifungal activity of essential oils from leaves and flowers of Inula viscosa (Asteraceae) by Apulian region.

Some essential oils from several plants (Artemisia verlotorum, Lavandula augustifolia, Ocimum gratissimum) have proved to have acaricidal, antifungal and antibacterial activity. Inula viscosa Ait. (Asteraceae), a plant growing spontaneously in the Mediterranean area, is currently used by popular medicine for its therapeutic effects. Flavonoids, azulenes, sesquiterpenes, and essential oils have been isolated and identified from its leaves. This paper reports the results of the composition and antifungal activity in vitro against dermatophytes and Candida spp. of the four essential oils obtained by steam distillation of the leaves, flowers, whole plant and whole plants without flower extracts of I. viscosa. All the extracts proved to have a significant antifungal activity against dermatophytes even at low concentrations (0.01 mg/ml). The leaf extracts exhibited the greatest antifungal efficacy. The high concentration of the sesquiterpene (carboxyeudesmadiene), occuring in the leaf extracts, may explain its greater antifungal activity.