Bioactive compounds from Larrea cuneifolia as a novel alternative for postharvest diseases control

DE LOS ÁNGELES FERNÁNDEZ, MARÍA; BOITEUX, JOANA; SILVA, MARÍA F.; LUCERO,GABRIELA; ESPINO, MAGDALENA

Mendoza

Simposio; 24th Latin-American Symposium on Biotechnology, Biomedical, Biopharmaceutical, and Industrial Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis and Microchip Technology; 2018

Monilinia fructicola is the most destructive post-harvest pathogen in stone fruit worldwide. Great attention has been paid to plant extracts, a rich source of bioactive chemicals for the sustainable pest control. In Argentina, autochthonous plants belonging to the genus Larrea (Zygophyllaceae) are one of the most remarkable used in folk medicine. Among Larrea species, L. cuneifolia has been traditionally used as anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, dysphoretic, amenagogic and anti-microbial agents. However, there remains a lack of information concerning their chemical composition. In this work, chromatographic procedures for the analysis of phenolic compounds and alkaloids were developed using HPLC-DAD. Among the alkaloids evaluated, theophylline and harmaline were detected in L. cuenifolia extract. The phenolic compounds detected were caffeic, cinnamic, ferulic, rosmarinic, nordhihidroguayaretic acids and luteolin. Moreover, the biological activity of L. cuneifolia extract was evaluated against M. fructicola using agar diffusion method. Antimicrobial activity assay demonstrated that M. fructicola miceliar growth was inhibited completely by the extract at 200 mg/mL. The results reveal that L. cuneifolia extract has an outstanding activity against M. fructicola mainly due to the presence of diverse bioactive compounds. This extract could be considered a potential alternative to the use of fungicides in the control of brown rot in stone fruit.