Saoussanabiloïde, a novel antifungal alkaloid from Echiochilon fruticosum Desf. growing in Tunisia

Abstract

Bioactivity guided fractionation of Echiochilon fruticosum Desf. (Boraginaceae) butanolic extract biautography assay against fungi led to the isolation of a new bioactive alkaloid, named saoussanabiloïde (1). Its structure was established on the basis of spectroscopic measurements, IR, MS and 2D NMR using COSY, HMQC and HMBC experiments. The strongest inhibitory effect of the butanolic extract, from fractions derived from the crude extract and saoussanabiloïde (1), were observed against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum.

Keywords:

• Echiochilon fruticosum
• boraginaceae
• butanolic extract
• saoussanabiloïde
• 2D NMR
• antifungal activity

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to Dr F. Harzallah-Skhiri (Institut de Biotechnologie de Monastir, Rue Taher Haddad, 5000 Monastir, Tunisie) for plant identification.