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Natural herbal products are widely used by athletes to reduce the immune suppression caused by intensive exercise. This study aimed to determine the effects of the essential oils Origanum dubium, Origanum vulgare subsp hirtum , and Lavandula angustifolia , which belong to the Lamiaceae family, on immune cells in athletes. Thirty-four trained men (age: , height: , body mass:) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups or the control group. Leukocytes and their subgroups were measured before and after a 14-day essential oil intervention and following an intensive exercise session. The main findings indicated that essential oils isolated from O. dubium (; ; ; increase), O. vulgare subsp hirtum (; ; ; increase), and L. angustifolia (; ; ; increase) increased lymphocyte counts, thus maintaining baseline levels despite decreased post-exercise lymphocyte counts. Additionally, the post-exercise lymphocyte count was lower than that after the intervention (;) but higher than at baseline (;) in the O. vulgare subsp hirtum group. The lower post-exercise lymphocyte counts of the control group compared with those after the 14-day period (;) and baseline (;) supported the experimental group results. However, our findings revealed that essential oil interventions had no significant effect on neutrophil counts, but the intensive exercise intervention increased the neutrophil counts in all groups. No significant change was identified in the other subgroup counts following the essential oil intervention or post exercise. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that these plants, especially O. vulgare subsp hirtum , can be used to alleviate the immune suppressive effects of intense exercise in athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine effect of altitude on the yields, composition, and antifungal activities of the essential oil isolated from Origanum dubium plant populations collected at four different altitudes. The essential oil yield, the content of four compounds and antifungal activities against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were found to vary in relation to the different altitudes examined. According to the GC‐MS analysis, carvacrol (46.51%–85.65%), linalool (0.24–48.37), p‐cymene (1.89%–7.89%), and γ‐terpinene (0.28%–6.31%) were determined as major compounds of essential oils of the plants collected from different altitudes. Altitude seems one of the factors that affected the quantity and quality of the essential oil of O. dubium. A significant correlation between the amount of carvacrol, p‐cymene, and antifungal activities was determined. The essential oil of plant having the highest content of carvacrol (85.65%) showed the strongest antifungal activity against S. sclerotiorum at relatively very low concentration used (0.75 µl petri−1). Practical applications: The essential oil yields, the chemical compositions and antifungal activities against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum were found to vary in relation to the altitudes where plants grown. Since the yield, chemical composition, and biological activities was affected, altitude seems to be an important factor that should be considered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting antifungal activities of essential oil of Origanum dubium against devastating plant fungal disease agent S. sclerotiorum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]