In vitro antifungal, antibacterial, phytotoxic, brine shrimp, insecticidal activities and composition of essential oil of tagetes minuta from dir-kohistan, pakistan

The essential oil of the flowering shoot of Tagetes minuta L., collected from Dir Kohistan of Pakistan, was investigated for biological activities and chemical composition. The GC and GC/MS analysis data showed that among twenty two compounds, verbenone (25%), Unknown(11.6%),4-(5-methyl-2-furanyl)-2-butanone (8.8%) and D-limonene (8.4%) were the major constituents. The biological activity results showed that out of six bacteria stains, the oil possessed inhibitory activities against S. flexenari and S. aureus with a zone of inhibition 22mm and 20mm respectively. Among five fungal strains, only Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans were susceptible to oil, with 60% and 30% inhibition respectively. In insecticidal tests, the oil was noted for its effectiveness toward Sitophilus oryzae, with 50% mortality. Although the oil showed no cytotoxicity against Artemia Salina, while moderate phytotoxic activity was observed for Lemna minor. (author)