Chemical Constituents and Antifungal Activity of Leaf Essential Oil from Oreopanax ecuadorensis Seem. (Pumamaki), Endemic Plant of Ecuador

Background: Oreopanax ecuadorensis Seem. is a plant from Ecuador, that is found in the Andean region of the country. The plant is commonly used in protective rituals, and as an antiflu, analgesic and disinfectant medicine. Aim: The research aims to extract and analyze the chemical composition and evaluation of its antifungal potential of the essential oil extracted from its leaves. Methods: steam distillation was used for the extraction of essential oil, the evaluation of its components was performed by GC/MS, and the antifungal evaluation by the disc diffusion method. Results: The essential oil was obtained with a yield of 0.05%. 33 compounds were detected of which 30 were identified, corresponding to 99.28%; the most abundant molecules were: thujene <α-> (36.63%), followed by bicyclogermacrene with (8.76%), pinene <β-> with (8.32%) and limonene with 5.15%. Three of the four strains evaluated were affected by the oil at concentrations of 1.25%, inhibiting its growth. The strains were: Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum and Microsporum canis. Conclusion: The essential oil shows good antifungal activity, which could be less than 1.25%. In this way, this medicinal plant is valued by verifying ancestral knowledge in the use of medicinal plants by the Andean people of Ecuador.