Phenolic compounds and antifungal activity of ethyl acetate extract and methanolic extract from Capsicum chinense Jacq. ripe fruit

Abstract

Food loss due to contamination caused by fungi has much impact on agriculture and leads to significant economic losses. Synthetic and natural fungicides have been used for avoiding losses of several food products due to fungal contamination. As a result, species of the genus Capsicum have been used for preserving food because of their chemical compounds with antifungal activity. Therefore, this study aimed at identifying some phenolic compounds found in both ethyl acetate extract (EAE) and methanolic extract (ME) from habanero pepper (C. chinense) ripe fruit by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (LC-ESI-MS/MS) and at evaluating their antifungal activities against fungi Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Extracts resulted from a sequential process of maceration. Antifungal activity was evaluated by the disk diffusion method (DDM) at the following doses of both diluted extracts: 25 µL, 50 µL, 100 µL and 200 µL. The chemical analysis showed that there were protocatechuic acid, gentisic acid, vanillic acid, kaempferol-3-O-robinobiosideo and naringenin in both extracts. EAE showed high inhibition of mycelial growth at both doses 100µL and 200µL against the three fungi while methanolic exhibited weak activity even at the highest dose under investigation. However, further in-depth studies are needed to reinforce their uses and practical applications to the agricultural field.

Effect of Vermicompost-Tea and Plant Extracts on Growth, Physiological, and Biochemical Traits of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L.)

“…The latest findings further authenticated that foliar application of plant extracts enhanced the lettuce growth characteristics, which might be due to phenolic compounds in the extracts playing an essential role in promoting plant growth (Santosa et al, 2022).…”

“…Some phenolic compounds work as natural auxin transport regulators in plants, and the mono-and dihydroxy flavonoids work as inhibitors of IAA transport (Ribeiro et al, 2019). The reported relationship between polyphenol metabolism and the seasonal development of plant tissues can influence plant growth by promoting leaf expansion (Santosa et al, 2022) and stimulating callus growth (Popelka et al, 2017). Phenolics work as a signal for growth and can directly affect the composition and activity of decomposer communities.…”

Promising antifungal activity of two varieties of Capsicum chinense against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizopus stolonifer and Colletotrichum goleosporoides

“…This study highlights the total inhibition of fungal growth when different doses of hexane extracts were evaluated. Santos et al (2024) reported that 200 µL ethyl acetate extracted from C. chinense fruit was capable of inhibiting S. sclerotiorum (96.2%), R. stolonifer (87.3%) and C. goleosporoides (98.3%) growth. The methanolic extract was poorly active since it inhibited only around 50% of mycelial growth of the three fungi (Santos et al, 2024).…”

“…Santos et al (2024) reported that 200 µL ethyl acetate extracted from C. chinense fruit was capable of inhibiting S. sclerotiorum (96.2%), R. stolonifer (87.3%) and C. goleosporoides (98.3%) growth. The methanolic extract was poorly active since it inhibited only around 50% of mycelial growth of the three fungi (Santos et al, 2024). In sum, this study suggests that antifungal activity exhibited by HE-RB and HE-UB may be explained by their high concentrations of E-caryophyllene, since this sesquiterpene has well-known antifungal activity (Nogueira et al, 2020;Hilgers et al, 2021).…”

“…Taking into consideration the bioactive potential of C. chinense extracts (Morais et al, 2019;Santos et al, 2022), this study aimed at investigating the in vitro antifungal potential of hexane extracts from two Brazilian varieties of C. chinense fruit (unripe bode pepper -'HE-UB' -and ripe little beak pepper -'HE-RB' -Figure 1) and at determining their chemical composition by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).…”