Scholarly record

BIO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FOENICULUM VULGARE ESSENTIAL OIL

Monica Negrea

Abstract

Fennel (Foeniculum) is a member of the Apiaceae family, the most cultivated fennel cultivars belong to subspecies vulgare. This paper aim is to obtain essential oil from Foeniculum vulgare (FEO) seeds cultivated in the western part of Romania and to characterize the FEO in terms of chemical composition, herbicidal and antibacterial properties. Fennel essential oil was obtained by water vapour entrainment and the chemical composition of the oil was determined by GS-MS.The herbicidal effect was studied against weed seeds of Amaranthus retroflexus (ARET), Echinochloa crus-galli (EGAL), Chenopodium album (CALB), but also wheat seeds (WS) Lovrin variety and the rate of germination inhibition was determined. In order to use Foeniculum vulgare as natural preservative in food industry, in vitro effect of FEO against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes was tested. The results shown that the yield of FEO extracted from seeds was 3.1% and the major compound was anethole with a percentage of 64.864%. Regarding the herbicidal effect of FEO compared to synthetic herbicide DualGold960EC, the results highlights that the best herbicidal effect was obtained against germination of Chenopodium album, even low concentrations of FEO were used (0.3%, 0.6%, 1%). The effect of FEO against gram positive and gram negative bacteria reveals a high capacity to inhibit bacterial growth.

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