Antifungal Activity of Pterocarpans from Caragana jubata (pall.) Poir

OBJECTIVE To study the antifungal activity of pterocarpans from Caragana jubata (pall.) poir.. METHODS The compounds have been separated and purified by polyamine resin and silica gel column chromatography as well as the preparative HPLC method from the active fraction. The minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC) were measured by broth microdilution method according to document M27-A published by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). RESULTS The CHCl3 extract of the MeOH extract prepared from the whole plant of Caragana jubata (pall.) Poir．Exhibited good antifungal activity. Bioassay-directed fractionation led to the purification of five pterocarpans, 3-methoxy maackiain (1), maackiain (2), 3-methoxy-9-hydroxy pterocarpan (3), 3,9-dimethoxy pterocarpan (4) and 3-methoxy-4,9-dihydroxy pterocarpan (5), in which compounds 2 showed potential antifungal activity against three Candida strains at the level of MICs 6.25-25 μg·mL-1. CONCLUSION All of the compounds were isolated from the title plant for the first time. And biological validation showed pterocarpans were responsible for antifungal activity.