Óleo essencial de Satureja montana L.: análise cromatográfica, determinação das atividades antioxidante e antifúngica

Abstract

Plants are important sources of biologically active compounds, many of which are prototypes for the synthesis of a large number of drugs. Many scientific studies report that essential oils have antifungal, antibacterial, insecticide, and antioxidant activities, among others. These activities can be attributed to the constituents present in the essential oils that play protective roles in living organisms, protecting them against micro-organisms, insects and excessive production of free radicals. The present study sought to characterize and quantify the chemical constituents of the essential oil of Satureja montana L. and to evaluate the antioxidant activity by the sequestration of the DPPH radicals and the β-carotene/linoleic acid method. The fungicidal effect against the plant pathogens Colletotrichum truncatum, Fusarium graminearum and Drechslera oryzae were evaluated by the fumigation method. The major constituents found in the essential oil were thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and linalool. The essential oil antioxidant activity showed greater emphasis on the β-carotene system/linoleic acid. The essential oil has fungicidal activity to all fungi tested and as from the concentration of 250 μgmL-1 there is complete inhibition for all pathogens in the study.