ANTIFUNGAL ACTION OF THE THYME (THYMUS VULGARIS L.) OIL ON SOME MYCOTOXYCOGENOUS FUNGI ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS LINK. AND FUSARIUM GRAMINEARUM SCHW. L.

Mycotoxicogenous fungi Fusarium graminearum and Aspergillus flavus are producing mycotoxins in the cereal grains, that through the nutritive value and the increase of the toxicity of the plant products, these cannot guarantee health and they will not provide the security of the life. From this reason these two fungi are in the attention of the researchers and cereals cultivators from the worldwide. The antifungal action of the thyme essential oil on these two fungi was tested through diffusion in the culture medium Sabouraud with chloramfenicol in Petri plates in three doses: 1 μl, 5 μl and 10 μl. The obtained results in the framework of this research are evidencing the great capacity the thyme oil on the inhibition of the development of the two fungi. On the media treated with essential oil in different doses the number of the colonies was very low (between 1 and 7) in comparison with the control tester were growth between 31 and 38 mycelian colonies. Inhibitory capacity of the thyme on the two mycotoxicogenous fungi was proved to be very good, the growth speed being very low in all variants in comparison with the non-treated testers. The present researches show that in the antifungal activity are implied the fenolic compounds carvacrole and thymole. The very good antifungal capacity of the thyme volatile oil recommends it for the use in the control of some storage pathogens that cannot be kept under control through other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]