ARS | Publication request: ANTIFUNGAL CONSTITUENTS OF ESSENTIAL OIL FRACTION OF ARTEMISIA DRACUNCULUS L. VAR. DRACUNCULUS

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: October 16, 2002
Publication Date: October 19, 2002
Citation: MEEPAGALA, K.M., STURTZ, G., WEDGE, D.E. ANTIFUNGAL CONSTITUENTS OF ESSENTIAL OIL FRACTION OF ARTEMISIA DRACUNCULUS L. VAR. DRACUNCULUS. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY. 2002. v. 50(24). p. 6989-6992.

Interpretive Summary: As part of our ongoing search for natural product-based agrochemicals for control of minor crop fungi, we screened the steam-distilled oil of the aerial parts of Artemisia dracunculus, a plant in the family Asteraceae. The preliminary results showed the presence of antifungal activity against plant pathogenic fungi that cause Anthrcnose disease in strawberry. We isolated and identified the active compounds as 1,3-pentadiyne, methyleugenol, and capillarin. The relative abundance of 5-phenyl-1,3-pentadiyne is about 11% of the steam distilled oil.

Technical Abstract: The steam-distilled fraction of the aerial parts of Artemisia dracunculus was tested for activity against strawberry plant pathogenic fungi Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae, and C. gloeosporioides. Bioautography on silica TLC plates demonstrated the presence of antifungal activity of the steam distillate against these Colletotrichum species . The antifungal compounds, 5-phenyl-1,3- pentadiyne, methyleugenol, and capillarin were isolated by bioassay guided fractionation and identified by NMR and GC MS. The relative abundance of 5-phenyl-1,3-pentadiyne is about 11% of the steam distilled oil as determined by GC-MS. This is the first report of the antifungal activity of 5-phenyl-1,3-pentadiyne and capillarin against Colletrotichum fragariae, C. gloeosporioides, and C. acutatum and Botrytis cinerea. Microbioassay for antifungal activity of the compounds indicated that capillarin was the most effective of the three compounds against B. cinerea. Capillarin at 30uM concentration showed ca 60% growth inhibition of B. cinerea.