Volatile Compositions and Antifungal Activities of Native American Medicinal Plants: Focus on the Asteraceae

In the past, Native Americans of North America had an abundant traditional herbal legacy for treating illnesses, disorders, and wounds. Unfortunately, much of the ethnopharmacological knowledge of North American Indians has been lost due to population destruction and displacement from their native lands by European-based settlers. However, there are some sources of Native American ethnobotany remaining. In this work, we have consulted the ethnobotanical literature for members of the Asteraceae used in Cherokee and other Native American traditional medicines that are native to the southeastern United States. The aerial parts of , , , , , , , , and were collected from wild-growing plants in north Alabama. The plants were hydrodistilled to obtain the essential oils and the chemical compositions of the essential oils were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The essential oils were tested for in-vitro antifungal activity against , , and . The essential oil of showed noteworthy activity against with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 78 μg/mL, which can be attributed to the high concentration of cyclocolorenone in the essential oil.