Chemical composition and antifungal activity of the hexane extract of the Brazilian Chenopodium ambrosioides L.

Hydroextraction of the Brazilian Chenopodium ambrosioides L. produced a very low yield (0.3%) of the essential oil (EO) with a good activity against eight important fungi. Aiming to improve the yield of the antifungals, hexane was evaluated as an extraction solvent. Hexane extraction improved the yield (1.1%) of the antifungals with activity comparable to that of the EO. The chemical compositions of the crude and purified extracts were tentatively determined by gas chromatography (Kovats retention indices) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.