Antibacterial and Antifungal Terpenes from the Medicinal Angiosperms of Asia and the Pacific: Haystacks and Gold Needles

Abstract

This review identifies terpenes isolated from the medicinal Angiosperms of Asia and the Pacific with antibacterial and/or antifungal activities and analyses their distribution, molecular mass, solubility, and modes of action. All data in this review were compiled from Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, ChemSpider, PubChem, and library searches from 1968 to 2022. About 300 antibacterial and/or antifungal terpenes were identified during this period. Terpenes with a MIC ≤ 2 µg/mL are mostly amphiphilic and active against Gram-positive bacteria, with a molecular mass ranging from about 150 to 550 g/mol, and a polar surface area around 20 Ų. Carvacrol, celastrol, cuminol, dysoxyhainic acid I, ent-1β,14β-diacetoxy-7α-hydroxykaur-16-en-15-one, ergosterol-5,8-endoperoxide, geranylgeraniol, gossypol, 16α-hydroxy-cleroda-3,13 (14)Z-diene-15,16-olide, 7-hydroxycadalene, 17-hydroxyjolkinolide B, (20R)-3β-hydroxy-24,25,26,27-tetranor-5α cycloartan-23,21-olide, mansonone F, (+)-6,6′-methoxygossypol, polygodial, pristimerin, terpinen-4-ol, and α-terpineol are chemical frameworks that could be candidates for the further development of lead antibacterial or antifungal drugs.

Whole Genome Sequencing Reveals Novel Insights about the Biocontrol Potential of Burkholderia ambifaria CF3 on Atractylodes lancea

“…Approximately 300 antibacterial and/or antifungal terpenes have been identified so far [ 38 ]. Phosphonates are systemic fungicides widely employed in agriculture, such as Fosetyl-Al and various phosphonate salts such as potassium, sodium, or ammonium phosphonates [ 39 ].…”

The Antibacterial and Wound Healing Properties of Natural Products: A Review on Plant Species with Therapeutic Potential against Staphylococcus aureus Wound Infections

“…Plant-derived natural products are characterized by a wide diversity of chemical classes and structural complexity. Terpenes, anthraquinones, tannins, flavonoids, lipids, and polysaccharides are some examples of chemical classes whose antibacterial activity has been reported in different species of bacteria [44,45]. Several physicochemical characteristics can influence the mechanism of the antibacterial activity of these compounds, including molecular mass, solubility, polar surface area, and the presence of different substituents [45].…”

Could natural terpenes be an alternative for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases?

“…In addition to regular terpenes, plants also synthesize homoterpenes (also known as nor‐terpenes), which can be generated through the degradation of regular terpenes (Zhou & Pichersky, 2020). Isoprenoids have shown diverse biological activities in vitro and in vivo studies, including anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, antiaggregant, anticoagulant, antitumor, antifungal, and antibacterial activity (Tetali, 2019; Wiart et al., 2023). Of note are its effects on various parasites such as Entamoeba histolytica (Menezes & Tasca, 2023), Trypanosoma cruzi (Moreno et al., 2018), Plasmodium falciparum (Tabefam et al., 2018), S. mansoni (McManus et al., 2018), Leishmania spp (Raimundo et al., 2022) and E. multilocularis (Liu et al., 2021).…”