Composition and Antifungal Activity of Two Essential Oils of Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.)

The two essential oils isolated from plants of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L. ssp. officinalis) grown in two different localities near Urbino (Marche, Italy) were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The major components were pinocamphone (34% and 18.5%), isopinocamphone (3.2% and 29%) and β-pinene (10.5% and 10.8%). The major differences in the composition of the oils were detectable in the ratio of pinocamphone/isopinocamphone, in the percentage of linalool (0.2% and 7.9%) and camphor (0.3% and 5.3%).The oils showed antifungal activity against 13 strains of phytopathogenic fungi; the activity of the oil extracted from plants grown at 1000 m above sea level showed higher activity