Composição química e atividade antifúngica do óleo essencial de poejo em diferentes estágios de desenvolvimento

Abstract

<p class="Pa7">The aim of this study was to compare the yield, chemical composition and antifungal activity of the essential oil that is obtained from <em>Mentha pulegium </em>in different developmental stages and cultivated under controlled conditions in southern Brazil. The hydrodistillation of fresh leaves that were collected at 60, 70 and 85 days resulted inessential oil yields of 0.17 %, 0.23 % and 0.17 %, respectively. All of the essential oil samples showed antifungal activity against <em>Cladosporium herbarum</em>. The gas chromatograph (GC) and GC/MS analysis revealed eleven constituents: seven (pulegone, piperitenone, menthone, isomenthone, neoisomenthol, piperitone and 1.1-dimethoxy-2-nonyne) were common to three samples, while menthofuran and myrtenal were detected only in samples of the first and second stages. Pulegone was the main constituent of the essential oil samples from the first and second stages (26.65 %), followed by piperitenone (20.41; 12.60 %). The pulegone concentration increased to 31.05 % in the last collection, while the major constituent was piperitenone (36.32 %). In conclusion, the results demonstrated that <em>M. pulegium </em>essential oil presents potential as an antifungal agent, and its chemical composition depends on the stage of development during which it was extracted.</p>