Phytoalexin-like Activity of Abietic Acid and Its Derivatives

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jf00054a051

Abietic acid and some of its derivatives, not known to be naturally occurring phytoalexins, were examined for their ability to promote H⁺ conductance across membranes and to inhibit growth of two fungal species-Aphanomyces euteiches and Fusarium moniliforme.These results were compared with those of phaseollin, at phytoalexin isolated from kidney beans.Ion leakage and fungal growth inhibition were shown to be a function of structure, results that suggest that pterocarpan phytoalexin activity requires the presence of a polar, protic functional group situated at the end of a large, rigid hydrophobic moiety.Log P values for phaseollin, abietic acid, and some derivatives of abietic acid were also determined. Keywords: Abietic acid; H⁺ leakage; antifungal activity; log P; phaseollin