Nematicidal activities of (-)-N-meth-ylcytisine and (-)-anagyrine from sophora flavescens against pine wood nematodes.

The dry root of Sophoraflavescens has been used as a Chinese medicine, which shows antipyretic, antiinflammatory and anthelmintic activity.In the course of research for nematicidal substances, we found that the methanol extract of the root had a nematicidal activity against pine woodnematodes.This paper describes the nematicidal activity of the primary active substances.The nematicidal activity against the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, was monitored by the method devised by Kawazu et al.l) Fresh roots of Sophora flavescens (3 kg) collected in Osaka prefecture at the end of April were extracted with methanol (10 1 x 3) at 5°C.After