Chemical composition and anti-fungal properties of the essential oil and crude extracts of Metasequoia glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu

The chemical composition of essential oil isolated from the floral cone of Metasequoia glyptostroboides Miki ex Hu by hydrodistillation was analysed by GC–MS. It was determined that 59 compounds, which represented 97.06% of total oil, were present in the oil. The oil contains mainly α-pinene (29.54%), caryophyllene oxide (4.49%), α-thujene (8.63%), bornylene (8.63%), totarol (5.28%), β-caryophyllene (4.40%), δ-3-carene (3.19%), 2-β-pinene (2.25%) and α-humulene (1.18%). Thus, the oil was found mainly contained oxygenated mono- and sesquiterpenes and their respective hydrocarbons. Essential oil and methanol extract of M. glyptostroboides and the derived fractions of hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate were tested for anti-fungal activity, which was determined by disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination methods. The oil and the methanol extract and the derived fractions of methanol showed great potential of anti-fungal activity as a mycelial growth inhibition against the tested phytopathogenic fungi such as Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Sclerotonia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Colletotricum capsici, Botrytis cinerea, and Phytophthora capsici, in the inhibition range of 49–70% and minimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 500 to 1000 μg/ml.