Antifungal Activity of Alkaloids from the Seeds of Chimonanthus praecox

Abstract magnified image Two alkaloids, D ‐calycanthine ( 1 ) and L ‐folicanthine ( 2 ), were isolated from the active MeOH extract of the seeds of Chimonanthus praecox Link . The structures of the two compounds were established by 1 H‐ and 13 C‐NMR, and MS (FAB, ESI) analyses. In the in vitro tests, compounds 1 and 2 showed significant inhibitory activities against five plant pathogenic fungi Exserohilum turcicum, Bipolaris maydis, Alternaria solani, Sclerotinia sderotiorum , and Fusarium oxysportium , among which B. maydis was found to be the most susceptible to 1 with an EC 50 value of 29.3 μg/ml, followed by S. sderotiorum to 2 with an EC 50 value of 61.2 μg/ml. To our knowledge, this is the first report of isolation and LC/MS/MS identification as well as of antifungal properties of these alkaloids from the seeds of this plant.