Search

Chemical fungicides are often harmful to people and the environment because of their toxicity. The wood protection industry places a high priority on replacing them with natural products. Therefore, this investigation focused on developing a formulation of a binary combination of Salvia rosmarinus Spenn and Cedrus atlantica Manetti obtained by Simultaneous hydrodistillation to protect the wood from decay using a mixture design methodology. The chemical composition of EOs was identified by Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and their anti-wood-decay fungal activity was assessed using the macrodilution method against four fungi responsible for wood decay: Coniophora puteana, Coriolus versicolor, Gloeophyllum trabeum, and Poria placenta. The results of GC/MS identified myrtenal as a new component appearing in all binary combinations. The optimum anti-wood-decay fungal activity was observed in a combination of 60% S. rosmarinus and 40% C. atlantica essential oils, providing an effective concentration for 50 percent of maximal effect (EC50) value of 9.91 ± 1.91 and 9.28 ± 1.55 µg/mL for C. puteana and C. versicolor, respectively. The highest anti-wood-decay fungal activity for G. trabeum and P. placenta was found in the combination of 55% of S. rosmarinus and 45% of C. atlantica essential oils, with an EC50 value of 11.48 ± 3.73 and 22.619 ± 3.79 µg/mL, respectively. Combined simultaneous hydrodistillation improved the antifungal effect of these essential oils. These results could be used to improve antifungal activity and protect wood against wood-decay fungi.

The main compounds or the chemical composition in general is influenced by different factors such as the harvest period, the origin of the plant and the climatic conditions. The composition of Rosmarinus officinalis essential oils during 9 harvest periods (January 2018 to April 2019) was determined by and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents were 1,8-Cineole (33.33-52.59%), Camphor (7.07-20.09%), α-pinene (11.93-16.22%). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) revealed two main groups namely First group “winter season” which contains a high amount of Camphor, Second group “summer season” which has a significant amount of 1,8-Cineole and an intermediate group “ which shares the same characterize of the two groups. In conclusion, these results allow us to understand the variation of major compounds according to the seasons for the exploitation of these compounds in different fields.