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Medicinal Plant Research 2014, Vol.4, No.6, 46
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Bacillus megaterium
, bacteria routinely used for
comparison in the antimicrobial assays, and 27
phytopathogenic bacterial species and two
mycopathogenic ones responsible for cultivated
mushroom diseases. A significant antibacterial activity,
as determined with the agar diffusion method, was
shown by
C. sativum
essential oil whereas a much
reduced effect was observed for
F. vulgare
oil.
C.
sativum
and
F. vulgare
essential oils may be useful
natural bactericides for the control of bacterial
diseases of plants and for seed treatment, in particular,
in organic agriculture. The significant antibacterial
activity of essential oils to the bacterial pathogens of
mushrooms appears promising (Lo Cantore et al. 2004).
A phenyl propanoid derivative, dillapional (1) was
found to be a antimicrobial principle of the stems of
F.
vulgare
with MIC values of 125, 250 and 125/ against
Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus niger
and
Cladosporium
cladosporioides
, respectively.
A coumarin
derivative,
scopoletin (2) was also isolated as marginally
antimicrobial agent along with inactive compounds,
dillapiol (3), bergapten (4), imperatorin (5) and
psolaren (6) from this plant. The isolates 1-6 were not
active against the Escherichia coli (Kwon et al., 2002).
C). Antioxidant activity
GC and GC–MS analysis of
F. vulgare
volatile oil
showed the presence of 35 components containing
96.4% of the total amount. The major component was
trans-anethole (70.1%). The analysis of its acetone
extract showed the presence of nine components
accounting for 68.9% of the total amount. Linoleic
acid (54.9%), palmitic acid (5.4%) and oleic acid
(5.4%) were found as major components in extract.
The antifungal and antioxidative potentials were also
carried out by different techniques. In inverted
petriplate method, the volatile oil showed complete
zone inhibition against
Aspergillus
niger
,
Aspergillus
flavus
,
Fusarium
graminearum
and
Fusarium
moniliforme
at 6 μL dose. It was found to be effective
for A. niger even at 4 μL dose. Moreover, using food
poison technique, the volatile oil and extract both
showed good to moderate zone of inhibition. The
antioxidant value was evaluated by measuring
peroxide and thiobarbituric acid values for linseed oil
at fixed time intervals. Both, the volatile oil and
extract showed strong antioxidant activity in
comparison with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and
butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). In addition, their
inhibitory action in linoleic acid system was studied
by monitoring peroxide accumulation in emulsion
during incubation through ferric thiocyanate method.
The results were well correlated with the above results
(Singh et al., 2006).
The essential oils obtained from
Crithmum
maritimum
L. (marine fennel) and two samples of F.
vulgare
(common fennel) were analysed by GC and
GC-MS and assayed for their antioxidant and
antibacterial activities. The antioxidant activity of
the oils was evaluated by two lipid model systems: a
modified thiobarbituric acid reactive species
(TBARS) assay and a spectrophotometric detection of
hydroperoxydienes from linoleic acid in a micellar
system. The oils demonstrated antioxidant capacities,
comparable in some cases to that of alpha-tocopherol
and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), used as
reference antioxidants. Concerning the antimicrobial
tests the essential oils were assayed against
twenty-five genera of bacteria, including animal and
plant pathogens, food poisoning and spoilage bacteria.
Oils from the two samples of
F. vulgare
showed a
higher and broader degree of inhibition than that of
C.
maritimum
(Roberto et al., 2000).
Herbicidal Activity
Bell et al. (2008) reported that fennel is a major
invasive plant in many lower elevation natural areas in
coastal California. Three identical field experiments
were conducted to evaluate glyphosate and triclopyr
for control of fennel. Treatments included each
herbicide applied alone and in various combinations.
they also compared broadcast applications to spot
spraying of individual fennel plants because spot
spraying is a commonly used technique in natural area
weed management. Most treatments controlled fennel
well when evaluated 6 wk and 1 yr after treatment,
with the exception of the lowest rate of glyphosate.
Purple needlegrass, a native perennial grass, was
present in two of the sites. In most, but not all,
treatment and site combinations, it was not
significantly harmed by the herbicides. The spot spray
applications were less effective and used more
herbicide per unit area than the broadcast spraying.