Chemical Composition and Antifungal Activity of Foeniculum vulgare Mill

The essential oils of plants have been widely recognized in the pharmaceutical industry due to their various benefits as well as their biological activities. In Algeria, the seeds of Foeniculum vulgare Mill (Family Apiaceae) are widely utilized in herbal medicine. We aimed to examine the chemical composition of seed essential oil of this species, and to reveal its in vitro antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus sp., Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton violaceum, Microsporumgypseum, Microsporumcanis and Rhodotorula sp. Chemical analysis of essential oil isolated by hydro-distillation was carried out by GC–FID and GC–MS. The basic components of the essential oil were estragole (84.8%), limonene (7.8%), fenchone (3.1%) and α-pinene (1.3%). The essential oil of F. vulgare revealed higher antifungal activities particularly against C. albicans and Aspergillus species with MIC values of 0.16–0.2 mg/ml.