Identification of Essential Oil Composition and Antifungal Effects of Three Populations of Heracleum persicum Desf. Ex Fischer from North and Northwest of Iran

Golpar, Heracleum persicum Desf. Ex Fischer Belongs to Apiaceae Family that broadly in traditional medicine it is used as a spice and food flavor, pickles agent and has anti-worm, carminative, appetizer, and diuretic properties. This investigation aimed to study on essential oil composition and antifungal effect of three populations of H. persicum Desf. Ex Fischer from Northwest of Iran. In the present study seeds of plant harvested from Meshkin Shahr, Marmishu, and Aynalu. Essential oil (EO) were extracted by Clevenger apparatus with hydrodistillation method and compounds were identified using GC-MS instrument. Antifungal property of EO was also determined through the mycelial growth inhibition (MGI) index by a Poison Food Technique. Overall, 40 compounds were identified among them Hexyl butyrate (38.77 to 43.27%), n-octyl acetate (13.92 to 28.09 %), Hexyl methyl butyrate (3.95 to 8.01%) and n-Hexyl hexanat (5.14 to 6.97 %) were the major components. Antifungal effect of the EOs was also determined through the culture medium poisoning method and evaluated based on mycelial growth inhibition (MGI) index. The results showed that the Golpar essential oil inhibited mycelial growth of Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus niger and Botrytis cinerea. Also, in concentrations of 200 and 300 ppm, mycelial growth of B. cinerea was completely inhibited. The results of this study showed that essential oils in populations Golpar due to having high percentage oxygenated terpenoid compounds, showed inhibitory effect on studied fungi.