| Summary: | Bioassay guided fractionation of an antimycobacterial extract of <em>Foeniculum vulgare</em> var dulce (Apiaceae) led to the isolation and characterization of 5-hydroxyfurano-coumarin. The chemical structure of this compound was elucidated by <sup>1</sup>H and <sup>13</sup>C (1D and 2D) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In addition, the active fractions were analyzed by GC-MS and seventy eight compounds were identified; the major compounds were 1,3-benzenediol, 1-methoxycyclohexene, <em>o</em>-cymene, sorbic acid, 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, estragole, limonene-10-ol and 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one. Twenty compounds identified in the active fractions were tested against one sensitive and three MDR strains of <em>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </em>using the Alamar Blue microassay. Compounds that showed some degree of antimycobacterial activity against all strains tested were the following: linoleic acid (MIC 100 µg/mL), oleic acid (MIC 100 µg/mL), 1,3-benzenediol (MIC 100–200 µg/mL), undecanal (MIC 50–200 µg/mL), and 2,4-undecadienal (MIC 25–50 µg/mL), the last being the most active compound. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of 5-hydroxy-furanocoumarin in <em>F. vulgare</em>.
|
|---|
