Activity of dehydroabietic acid derivatives against wood contaminant fungi

The antifungal activity of 10 dehydroabietic acid derivatives with different configuration in A and B rings (cis/trans A/B junction) and different substituents and/or functionalities was evaluated in bioassays in vitro and in situ (pine wood blocks). The test compounds dissolved in acetone were assayed at several concentrations w/w (test compound/culture medium) against the fungi. The Relative Inhibition (RI) was determined by measuring the radial growth of colonies of the fungi treated with the test compounds by comparison with those of control cultures; the results are expressed as EC(50). The results of bioassays in vitro have shown that hydroxyl and aldehyde functions are required for antifungal activity in this group of compounds and deisopropylation can increase the activity. Our assay of antifungal activity in situ (in pine wood blocks) provides a means to investigate the preservative activities of these antifungal compounds under actual conditions of use. The dehydroabietic acid derivative cis-deisopropyldehydroabietanol (10) inhibited the growth of several of the fungi tested, in vitro and in situ. The results obtained in situ with the test compound (10) at 6% and 8% were not significantly different from the reference products and a good level of protection of the wood against the organisms tested was achieved. The results in wood bioassays present new possibilities in the search for natural new compounds in the wood protection, as an alternative to conventional fungicides.