ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF NATURAL VOLATILE COMPOUNDS IN RELATION TO THEIR VAPOR-PRESSURE

The antifungal activity of some esters, aldehydes, alcohols and terpen es has been analyzed. A method for assessing the inhibitory activity o f these volatile substances on Penicillium expansum Lk and Botrytis ci nerea Pers has been developed, Fungal growth was measured by gas chrom atographic analysis of the metabolic CO2 produced in the head space of closed systems by the test organism, At the same time, a head space g as chromatographic method was also used to monitor the partition in th e head space of the volatile compounds under examination. The effectiv eness of hexanal, benzyl acetate and estragole on Penicillium expansum and Botrytis cinerea, seems to be dependent on their vapour pressure in the system.