Antifungal activity of the methanol extract of Myristica malabarica fruit rinds and the active ingredients malabaricones against phytopathogenic fungi

In a search for plant extracts with in vivo antifungal activity for plant diseases, we found that the methanol extract of Myristica malabarica fruit rinds effectively suppressed the development of several plant diseases. The methanol extract exhibited potent 1-day protective activity against rice blast, tomato late blight, wheat leaf rust and red pepper anthracnose. It also showed 7-day and 4-day protective activities against the plant diseases. Three antifungal resorcinols were isolated from the methanol extract of M. malabarica fruit rinds and identified as malabaricones A (MA), B (NO), and C (MC). Inhibitory activity of the three resorcinols against mycelial growth of plant pathogenic fungi varied according to compound and target species. All three compounds effectively reduced the development of rice blast, wheat leaf rust and red pepper anthracnose. In addition, MC was highly active for reducing the development of tomato late blight. This is the first report on the antifungal activities of malabaricones against filamentous fungi.