10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12 Volume 6 Issue 2 2015 (April - June) Phytochemicals in various extracts and essential oil of lessThan i greaterThan Origanum majorana lessThan /i greaterThan L. were screened. In addition, the pharmacognostic profile of leaf powder and essential oil were investigated in order to develop standards for identification and quality control. The findings confirmed for presence of maximum number of phytoconstituents such as carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, vitamin C and tannin in aqueous extract whilst essential oil possessed only volatile oils, flavonoids and phenols. Subsequent investigation of antifungal potency showed efficacy of essential oil against all the tested pathogens: lessThan i greaterThan Aspergillus flavus greaterThan A. niger greaterThan Candida albicans greaterThan A. fumigatus greaterThan A. terreus greaterThan Penicillium notatum. lessThan /i greaterThan Brine shrimp lethality assay performed to evaluate the cytotoxicity of all extracts and essential oil exhibited no deleterious toxic effects. These findings, clearly suggest that lessThan i greaterThan O. majorana lessThan /i greaterThan essential oil can be used in quality control of fungi, especially the tested organisms in the present study. PREETHY ANN MATHEW AND M. NALINI PADMANABHAN Essential oil, Origanum majorana, pharmacognostic profile, antifungal activity, brine shrimp. 634-640