Antifunfal activity of anacardiaceae species native from northwestern argentina.

ARISTIMUÑO FICOSECO, M.E.; VATTUONE, M.A.; CATALÁN, C.A.; SAMPIETRO, D.A.

San Miguel de Tucumán

Congreso; VII Congreso Argentino de Microbiología General “SAMIGE DEL BICENTENARIO”.; 2011

Sociedad Argentina de Microbiología General

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ANACARDIACEAE SPECIES NATIVE FROM NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA Anacardiaceae family has an important participation in the dendrologic flora of northwestern Argentina and are mostly represented by species of the genus Schinopsis and Schinus. Some of them cause severe contact dermatitis, which is mainly attributed to the content of phenolics compounds, biflavonoids and phenolic lipids (alkylcatechols and resorcinols). These substances are defense metabolites against plant pests and diseases, and become Anacardiaceae species as sources of antimicrobial compounds. In this work, we check the antifungal activity and phenolic contents of leaf extracts of five Anacardiaceae species native from northwestern Argentina. Leaves of Schinus gracilipes, Schinus fasciculatus, Schinus molle, Schinopsis haenkeana and Schinopsis lorentzii were sequentially extracted with dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The organic extracts were evaporated to dryness, solubilized in methanol and filtrated. Percentage of participation of total phenolic compounds, flavonoids and phenolic lipids were estimated in the dry residue of the filtrates by microcolorimetric methods based on Folin Ciocalteu reagent, aluminum chloride and Fast Blue B salt, respectively. Minimum antifungal dose (MAD) was determined by the disk diffusion method (10-2000 μg dry extracted material/disk) on the cereal pathogens. Dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts of S. lorentzii and S. haenkeana, and the methanolic extract of S. gracilipes had a MAD of 125 μg (dry material/disk) on F. graminearum. Dichloromethane and methanol extracts of S. fasciculatus had no an inhibitory effect on this fungal species and the remaining organic extracts had MADs at 500-1000 μg. Dichloromethane extracts of S. lorentzii, S. haenkeana, and S. molle, and ethyl acetate extracts of S. molle and S. haenkeana had MADs of 500-1000 μg on F. verticillioides while the remaining extracts had no a fungitoxic effect on this fungus. Quantitative participation of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and phenolic lipids in the extracted dry materials were not directly associated to the antifungal effects, suggesting that qualitative differences among extracts determine the observed biological activity. Our results indicate that F. graminearum was more susceptible than F. verticillioides to the leaf extracts suggesting that Anacardiaceae species has a selective antifungal effect on the Fusarium species assayed.