AUTHOR=Aimad Allali , Youness El Abdali , Sanae Rezouki , El Moussaoui Abdelfattah , Bourhia Mohammed , Salamatullah Ahmad Mohammad , Alzahrani Abdulhakeem , Alyahya Heba Khalil , A. Albadr Nawal , Nafidi Hiba-Allah , Ouahmane Lahcen , Mohamed Fadli 

TITLE=Chemical Composition and Antifungal, Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Essential Oils From Origanum compactum Benth. Used in the Mediterranean Diet

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.798259

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.798259

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Essential oils (EO) of <italic>Origanum compactum</italic> Benth. (<italic>O. compactum</italic>) are well known for their biological and pharmacological activities. This study aimed to assess the chemical composition, antifungal, insecticidal and repellent activities of EO of <italic>O. compactum</italic> used in the Mediterranean diet. Phytochemical screening was conducted using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Antifungal activity was tested by the disc diffusion method followed by a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay against <italic>Candida albicans (C. albicans), Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus), Aspergillus niger (A. nige)</italic>, and <italic>Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum)</italic>. Repellent potential and toxicity of EO by contact and inhalation were tested against <italic>Callosobruchus maculatus</italic> (<italic>C. maculatus</italic>). The yield of essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of <italic>O. compactum</italic> was 4.41 ± 0.35%, mainly composed of Carvacrol (38%) and Thymol (31.46%). Regarding antifungal activity, the results revealed a wide antifungal spectrum of the studied EO against the tested strains, which reached 100% growth inhibition, especially against <italic>A. niger</italic> and <italic>C. albicans</italic> even at the lowest MIC values (3.125 μg/mL). Concerning insecticidal activity, the EO caused total mortality of <italic>C. maculatus</italic> adults at a dose of 20 μL/L air with LC<sub>50</sub> value of 5.3 μL/L air. A significant reduction in the number of eggs and emergence was proportionally recorded with increasing doses up to 100% at 20 μL/L air. For repellent activity, the studied EO showed a moderate repellent activity with an average percentage of 39.16%. The outcome of this work revealed that <italic>O. Compactum</italic> EO could be a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative bioinsecticide and bio-fungicide to replace the chemically synthesized forms.</p>