Essential oil of Artemisia argyi Lévl. et Vant inflorescence was obtained by supercritical CO(2) extraction and hydrodistillation. The oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to characterize its components and was also tested for antifungal activity. A total of 61 compounds were identified in the hydrodistilled oil. The major components were 1,8-cineole (4.46%), borneol (3.58%), terpinol (10.18%), spathulenol (10.03%), caryophyllene oxide (6.51%), juniper camphor (8.74%), Camazulene (2.05%), and camphor (3.49%). By using supercritical CO(2) at 50 degrees C and 10 MPa, the concentrations of previous main components were lower than oil obtained by hydrodistillation, while miscellaneous compounds were higher. The essential oil extracted by these two methods exhibited antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternate, two common storage pathogens of fruits and vegetables. The inhibition of B. cinerea and A. alternate were 93.3 and 84.7% for oil extracted by hydrodistillation when exposed to a concentration of 1,000 mg L(-1), while values of 70.8 and 60.5% were observed from oil extracted by supercritical CO(2).