Comparison of the composition and fungicidal activity of essential oils from fennel fruits cultivated in Poland and Egypt

The yield, composition and fungicidal activity of essential oils obtained from fennel fruits cultivated in Poland (FEO-POL) and Egypt (FEO-EG) were compared. The influence of the duration of hydrodistillation using a Clevenger apparatus on the essential oil yield was studied. The composition of the fennel essential oils was determined by GC-MS method. Studies have shown that FEO-POL and FEO-EG are two distinct chemotypes, which differ in yield and composition. The fennel fruits cultivated in Poland contained 4.14% of essential oil with trans-anethole as a main component. The plant material from Egypt was characterised by low content of essential oil (1.32%) with a predominant share of estragole. The fungicidal activity was tested in vitro against ten species of pathogenic fungi. The best result for FEO-POL was achieved against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani and Botrytis cinerea. Antifungal activity of FEO-EG against tested fungi was weak or none.