Composition, antifungal and radical scavenging activities of 15 rare essential oils

Composition, antifungal activity and radical scavenging activity of 15 rare essential oils were examined in vitro and were compared with those of the essential oils used frequently in aromatherapy. The composition of white champaca was first disclosed in this work and the composition of other oils were similar to those reported, except for osmanthus and spikenard oils that showed different compositions. Almost all the oils examined showed potent inhibitory activity against filamentous formation of Candida albicans, though the inhibition against the growth of the yeast form was weak. Against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, white champaca and zanthoxylum oils showed potent killing action when treated at 42[degrees]C for 20 min at 0.8% solution. The radical scavenging activity against I,I-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrzyl radical was weak except for holy basil and spikenard oils, in which the activity of holy basil was comparable to that of clove oil. Key words: essential oil, composition, antifungal activity, radical scavenging activity