Chemical Composition Diversity and In Vitro Antifungal Activities of Essential Oils Derived From Cymbopogon citratus, Origanum majorana and Lavandula dentata Against Two Phytopathogens Isolated From Pulse Crops

Hajar Sbai, Ilyass Maafa, Youssef Nemmassi, Hassan Afkhar, Ahmed Hajib, Soukaina Msairi, Nabil Radouane, Jean Costa, Lhou Majidi, Abdelhakim Bouyahya, Khalid Sumaily, Mohamed Tabyaoui, Hicham Harhar. (27/4/2026). Chemical Composition Diversity and In Vitro Antifungal Activities of Essential Oils Derived From Cymbopogon citratus, Origanum majorana and Lavandula dentata Against Two Phytopathogens Isolated From Pulse Crops. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 41 (4), pp. 814-828.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antifungal activity of lemongrass, majoram, and lavender essential oils (EOs) against Apiospora arundinis and Fusarium oxysporum under in vitro conditions. GC–MS and GC-FID analysis of lemongrass EO revealed that geranial (45.65%) was the major component, followed by neral (33.79%) and geraniol (3.74%). In majoram EO, terpinen-4-ol (55.83%) was identified as the main compound, along with α-terpineol (17.21%) and Z-sabinene hydrate (4.39%). The chemical composition of lavender EO was dominated by cis-14-nor-muurol-5-en-4-one (9.16%), myrtenal (8.39%), and β-eudesmol (7.26%). Antifungal activity was assessed in vitro using the direct contact assay and disk diffusion method. All tested EOs exhibited significant antifungal inhibition on mycelium growth of the two fungal pathogens. Lavandula dentata EO showed the highest minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 4 μL/mL using both methods. In contrast, Cymbopogon citratus EO established the lowest MIC (0.4 μL/mL) in the disk diffusion assay, highlighting both the potency of lemongrass EO and the effectiveness of the disk diffusion assay in our study.