## 4 Discussion  
The three under investigation species contained EOs in low amounts, consistent with previous studies reporting _Hypericum_ as an EO-poor genus [9]. Despite this fact, many studies have been conducted on _Hypericum_ spp. regarding the volatile constituents [9; 10; 11]; in many cases, the plant material has been collected in Greece [22; 23; 24; 25; 26]. Regarding chemotaxonomy, some controversial hypotheses exist; some researchers accept volatile constituents of the genus _Hypericum_ as possible chemotaxonomic markers [27; 28] and make use of statistical analysis to divide _Hypericum_ spp. into taxonomic sections [24; 29; 30], while [PERSON] [9] mentioned the variability of the EOs from this genus concerning a broader distribution, taxonomic rank or phenological state. Our results are in accordance with the latter author, as both differences and similarities (qualitative and quantitative) were observed between the studied oils. The investigated _Hypericum_ species are closely related taxa, as all belong \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Fungi**} & **HJ** & **HE** & **HA** & **Ketoconazole** \\  & **MIC** & **MIC** & **MIC** & **MIC** \\  & **MFC** & **MFC** & **MFC** & **MFC** \\ \hline _Aspergillus fumigatus_ & 0.015 & 0.030 & 0.010 & 0.20 \\  & 0.030 & 0.060 & 0.020 & 0.50 \\ \hline _Aspergillus niger_ & - & - & - & 0.20 \\  & 0.015 & 0.030 & 0.010 & 1.50 \\  & 0.030 & 0.060 & 0.020 & 2.00 \\ \hline _Penicillium perincosum_ & 0.025 & 0.030 & 0.010 & 0.20 \\  & 0.05 & 0.060 & 0.020 & 0.50 \\ \hline _Candidia albicans_ & - & 0.005 & - & 0.50 \\  & & 0.010 & - & 1.00 \\ \hline _Candidia tropicalis_ & 0.010 & 0.001 & 0.005 & 0.30 \\  & 0.030 & 0.002 & 0.010 & 0.50 \\ \hline _Candidia krusei_ & 0.010 & 0.001 & 0.005 & 0.50 \\  & 0.030 & 0.002 & 0.010 & 1.00 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \(\prec\) the determination of the MIC and MFC values was not possible since expected MIC and MFC values were not in the tested range of concentrations (0.16 mg/mL).  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Antifungal activity of _Hypericum_ EOs mg/mL. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Bacteria**} & **HJ** & **HE** & **HA** & **Stretomycin** & **Ampicillin** \\  & **MIC** & **MIC** & **MIC** & **MIC** & **MIC** \\  & **MBC** & **MBC** & **MBC** & **MBC** & **MBC** \\ \hline _Staphylococcus aureus_ & 0.015 & 0.030 & 0.015 & 0.05 & 0.25 \\  & 0.030 & 0.060 & 0.030 & 0.10 & 0.40 \\ \hline _Bacillus cereus_ & 0.0075 & 0.015 & 0.0025 & 0.10 & 0.25 \\  & 0.015 & 0.030 & 0.0050 & 0.20 & 0.40 \\ \hline _Listeria monocytogenes_ & 0.020 & - & 0.010 & 0.20 & 0.40 \\  & 0.040 & - & 0.020 & 0.40 & 0.50 \\ \hline _Pseudomonas aeruginosa_ & 0.0015 & 0.005 & 0.0025 & 0.20 & 0.75 \\  & 0.0030 & 0.010 & 0.0050 & 0.40 & 1.25 \\ \hline _Salmonella typhimurium_ & - & - & - & 0.20 & 0.40 \\  & & & & 0.40 & 0.50 \\ \hline _Escherichia coli_ & 0.0015 & 0.010 & 0.0025 & 0.20 & 0.25 \\  & 0.0030 & 0.015 & 0.0050 & 0.40 & 0.50 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \(\prec\) the determination of the MIC and MBC values was not possible since expected MIC and MBC values were not in the tested range of concentrations (0.16 mg/mL).  
\end{table} 
Table 3: Antibacterial activity of _Hypericum_ EOs mg/mL. to the section Coridium; HA and HJ are very close to HE, referred as recent derivatives of the latter and they are considered as the eastern and western member of a species pair, respectively [15]. The _Hypericum_ taxa of the section Coridium (six species in total) are distributed in disjunct geographic areas, except from the derivative taxa of HE in Crete, while the rest of them are totally absent from Greece [15]. HA and HJ are distributed in restricted areas of Crete only, thus being narrow endemic, and this is the first report of the chemical composition of their EOs, although studies have been conducted concerning their content in phloroglucinols derivatives [31; 32].