**Essential Oil Compositions and Antifungal Activity of Sunflower (***Helianthus***) Species Growing in North Alabama**

**Sims K. Lawson 1,2, Layla G. Sharp 1,2, Chelsea N. Powers 2, Robert L. McFeeters 2, Prabodh Satyal 3 and William N. Setzer 2,3,\***


Received: 1 May 2019; Accepted: 2 August 2019; Published: 5 August 2019

**Abstract:** *Helianthus* species are North American members of the Asteraceae, several of which have been used as traditional medicines by Native Americans. The aerial parts of two cultivars of *Helianthus annuus*, "Chianti" and "Mammoth", and wild-growing *H. strumosus*, were collected from locations in north Alabama. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography—mass spectrometry. The *Helianthus* essential oils were dominated by monoterpene hydrocarbons, in particular α-pinene (50.65%, 48.91%, and 58.65%, respectively), sabinene (6.81%, 17.01%, and 1.91%, respectively), β-pinene (5.79%, 3.27%, and 4.52%, respectively), and limonene (7.2%, 7.1%, and 3.8%, respectively). The essential oils were screened against three opportunistic pathogenic fungal species, *Aspergillus niger*, *Candida albicans*, and *Cryptococcus neoformans*. The most sensitive fungus was *C. neoformans* with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 78, 156, and 78 μg/mL, respectively.

**Keywords:** *Helianthus annuus*; *Helianthus strumosus*; *Aspergillus niger*; *Candida albicans*; *Cryptococcus neoformans*; α-pinene
