Antifungal Activities of Essential Oils of some Cameroonian Myrtaceae on

The antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of four Myrtaceae from Cameroon was established. The essential oils were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The incorporation technique was used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the oils. Growth inhibition was observed for all concentrations studied for each oil, whereas total inhibition was obtained only at higher concentrations. Total inhibition was reached at a concentration of 6000 ppm for Eucalyptus saligna and Callistemon rigidus, which seem to be the least effective oils. The most effective were Callistemon citrinus and Eucalyptus camaldulensis, which showed total inhibition at 5000 ppm, whereas the reference fungicide (ridomil) showed total inhibition at 2000 ppm. The Callistemon oil, which had a higher content of oxygenated compounds, was fungicidal, while the Eucalyptus oil was fungistatic. The oxygenated compounds were responsible for the fungicidal effect. Essential oil, chemical composition, antifungal activity, Callistemon, Eucalyptus, fungicidal, fungistatic