Isolation and identification of antifungal compounds from Reynoutria elliptica

In the continued research on natural fungicides for the control of plant diseases by using plant-derived products, we found that Reynoutria elliptica. had a strong fungicidal activity against several plant pathogens. R. elliptica (3.2 kg) were extracted with 80% aq. MeOH and the concentrated extracted was partitioned with n-hexane, EtOAc, n-BuOH and H₂O successively. The four layers were tested their disease control efficacies against 4 plant disease such as rise blast (RCB), tomato grey mold (TGM), tomato late blight (TLB), and barly powdery mildew (BPM). The n-hexane fraction was highly active showing over 95% control against TLB and BPM. and the EtOAc fraction was highly active showing over 95% control against RCB, TLB, and BPM. By using silica gel chromatography, MPLC, and HPLC, three compounds that were expected to have antifungal activity were isolated. Their chemical structures were elucidated as physcion, emodin, and emodie-8-O-glucoside by EI-MS and NMR spectroscopic analyses.