Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl.) Masters essential oil from Tunisia: Chemical characterization and herbicidal and antifungal activities assessment

Abstract Our study is in line with the valorization of Tunisian medicinal and aromatic plants in order to discover new bioactive natural products. So the aim was to characterized the physico-chemical properties and yield of the essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves of Tunisian Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl.) Masters. Thirty one compounds were identified using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS): they accounted for 91% of the essential oil composition with a majority of monoterpenes hydrocarbons (62.80%), in particular α-pinene (56.21%) and β-myrcene (3.08%). Further investigations allowed the identification of oxygenated monoterpenes, which represented 18.98%, with 1,8-cineole as the major compound of this fraction. The oil antifungal activity was assessed towards five phytopathogenic fungi. The strongest activity was observed against Botrytis cinerea with 71.17% inhibition. The oil herbicidal properties were tested on Sinapis arvensis L. and Phalaris canariensis L. Results indicated that T. articulata essential oil completely inhibited the seed germination of S. arvensis L. at high concentration (4 μl/ml), while at low doses (1 and 2 μl/ml), it delayed the germination and reduced the seedling growth of both weeds tested. Indeed, the use of these essential oils causes inhibition of weeds germination by setting their vegetative growth.