Simultaneous Hydrodistillation of Manetti and Spenn: Optimization of Anti-Wood-Decay Fungal Activity Using Mixture Design Methodology.

Chemical fungicides are often harmful to people and the environment because of their toxicity. The wood protection industry places a high priority on replacing them with natural products. Therefore, this investigation focused on developing a formulation of a binary combination of Spenn and Manetti obtained by Simultaneous hydrodistillation to protect the wood from decay using a mixture design methodology. The chemical composition of essential oil was identified by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and their anti-wood-decay fungal activity was assessed using the macrodilution method against four fungi responsible for wood decay: , , , and . The results of GC/MS identified myrtenal as a new component appearing in all binary combinations. The optimum anti-wood-decay fungal activity was observed in a combination of 60% and 40% essential oils, providing an effective concentration for 50% of maximal effect (EC) value of 9.91 ± 1.91 and 9.28 ± 1.55 μg/mL for and , respectively. The highest anti-wood-decay fungal activity for and was found in the combination of 55% of and 45% of essential oils, with EC values of 11.48 ± 3.73 and 22.619 ± 3.79 μg/mL, respectively. Combined simultaneous hydrodistillation improved the antifungal effect of these essential oils. These results could be used to improve antifungal activity and protect wood against wood-decay fungi.