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Article: Antifungal constituents of Northern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum americanum Mill.
- Article from:
- Phytomedicine: International Journal of Phytotherapy & Phytopharmacology
- Article date:
- May 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Urban & Fischer Verlag. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Abstract
Leaf, fruit, stem, bark and root of Zanthoxylum americanum were investigated for antifungal activity with 11 strains of fungi representing diverse opportunistic and systemic pathogens, including Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus. All extracts demonstrated a broad spectrum of antifungal activity and inhibited at least eight fungal species in a disk diffusion assay (600 [micro]g/disk). Antifungal activity was light-dependent, with fruit and leaf extracts most active in general. The presence of light-mediated compounds, such as psoralen, 8-methoxypsoralen and imperatorin in extracts of different organs was confirmed by ...