Valorisation of essential oil of Eucalyptus populifolia Desf, Eucalyptus woollsiana and Eucalyptus exserta for agro-industrial purposes

Forest species are characterized by their wealth of essential oils (EOs), which play key requested for alternative control methods against weeds, fungi and pests. This study reports the chemical composition and highlight the antioxidant, antifungal and phytotoxic properties of the EOs obtained from Eucalyptus populifolia Desf, Eucalyptus woollsiana and Eucalyptus exserta. The EOs were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Their antioxidant, antifungal and phytotoxic properties were investigated. All EOs displayed a specific richness in eucalyptol (75.94-7.01%), camphene (6.97-0.4%) globulol (5.20-5.83%) and alpha-pinene (0.71-12.82 %). EOs isolated from E. populifolia exhibited significant antioxidant activity. Furthermore, all investigated EOs displayed significant antifungal properties against four phytopathogenic fungi belonging to Fusarium genus. The phytotoxic activity against five weeds showed varying effectiveness on seed germination and seedling growth, which exhibited greater effectiveness compared to glyphosate. Eucalyptus EOs have the potential to be used in the formulation of biopesticides.