Antifungal Activity Of Artemisia Naphtha

Artemisiae annuae is the dry overground part of a traditional Chinese medicine, Artemisia annua L.. Many studies have demonstrated that Artemisiae annuae has remarkable pharmacological activities, such as heat-clearing, anti-rheumatism and anti-malaria effects. Artemisinin and essential oil are the major active components of Artemisiae annuae. Studies have demonstrated that artemisinin is effective in anti-malaria, anti-microbial, heat-clearing and immunoenhancement, while essential oil in Artemisiae annuae is effective in anti-microbial, antiphlogistic, antitussive, and so on. So far, most studies are focused on artemisinin and its derivatives, while the study and report about the essential oil are rare. In this paper, the oil yielding rates (OYR) in different growth periods and different storage periods were compared using vapor distillation method under optimum extraction conditions. And the anti-fungi effects of essential oil in Artemisiae annuae were studied, as well.The results showed that there was obvious differente production of OYR in different growth periods. The OYR was much higher in full-bloom stage than other stages.The filter paper method was used to test the anti-fungi effects of essential oil against four phytopathogens: Cercosporella brassicae Hoehnel, Alternaria porri Cif, Gibberella zeae petch and Alternaria longipes Tisdela. The results showed that the essential oil had obvious inhibitory rate against all the four fungi we used. And the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against the four fungi were tested using the plate culture method. The result showed that the MIC against Cercosporella brassicae Hoehnel and Alternaria porri Cif was 3.13 mg/ml while against Gibberella zeae petch and Alternaria longipes Tisdela, the MIC value was 6.25 mg/ml.