Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Essential Oils of Thuja Sutchuenensis, a Critically Endangered Species Endemic to China

Abstract

The essential oils from leaves, twigs and stems of large trees and shrub-like trees of Thuja sutchuenensis were extracted by hydrodistillation and supercritical fluid extraction, and analyzed by GC and GC–MS. The essential oil composition differed significantly among the three organs, as well as between large trees and shrub-like trees. Furthermore, consistent with the eastern Asia–North American disjunct distribution of the genus, many differences in the essential oil composition between T. sutchuenensis and other Thuja species were apparent. The essential oils exhibited a certain degree of antifungal activity against six strains of human pathogenic fungi.