Antifungal activity of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don (Asteraceae) essential oil against fungi isolated from cultural heritage objects

There is considerable interest in the use of essential oils as alternative methods to control micromycetes from cultural heritage objects. We investigated the chemical composition and antifungal activity of the essential oil of Helichrysum italicum. The main components of the oil were ?-curcumene (22.45%), ?-pinene (15.91 %) and neryl acetate (7.85 %). H. italicum essential oil showed moderate antifungal activity against fungi isolated from cultural heritage objects. The most susceptible fungi to oil treatment were Epicoccum nigrum and Penicillium sp., while the most resistant was Trichoderma viride. The H. italicum essential oil showed demelanizing activity against Aspergillus niger.