Table 1.3. Major classes of antimicrobial compounds from plants (Cowan et al., 1999).

Class Subclass Example(s) Mechanism References

Phenolics Simple phenols Catechol Substrate deprivation Peres et al. (1997)
Epicatechin Membrane disruption Toda et al. (1992)
Phenolic acids Cinnamic acid Fernandez et al. (1996)
Quinones Hypericin Bind to adhesins, complex with cell wall, King and Tempesta (1994)
Inactivate enzymes
Flavonoids Chrysin Bind to adhesins Perrett et al. (1995)
Flavones Abyssinone Complex with cell wall
Inactivate enzymes Brinkworth et al. (1992)
Inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase Ono et al. (1989)
Flavonols Totarol ? Kubo et al. (1993)
Tannins Ellagitannin Bind to proteins Stern et al. (1996)
Bind to adhesins Scalbert (1991)
Enzyme inhibition Haslam (1996)
Substrate deprivation, complex with cell wall,
Membrane disruption, metal ion complexation
Coumarins Warfarin Interaction with eucaryotic DNA (antiviral Bose (1958)
activity)
Terpenoids, essential oils Capsaicin Membrane disruption Cichewicz and Thorpe (1995)
Alkaloids Berberine Intercalate into cell wall/ or DNA Rahman and Choudhary (1995)
Piperine
Lectins and polypeptides Mannose-specific agglutinin Block viral fusion or adsoption Zhang and Lewis (1997)
Fabatin
Polyacetylenes 8S-Heptadeca-2(Z),9(Z)-diene-4,6-diyne-1,8- Estevez-Braun et al. (1994)
diol

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