Antifungal Activity of Diplotaenia damavandica

The constituents and antifungal activity of Diplotaenia damavandica, a rare native plant growing in Iran, were investigated. A methanolic extract of D. damavandica was obtained. The fractionation and isolation of the components was performed using column chromatography and HPLC. Bioassayguided isolation of the extract led to the purification of four coumarin compounds, angelicin, libanorin, psoralen and auraptene. The antifungal activity against Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans and Cladosporium cucumerinum was tested. The cytotoxicity of the fractions against the human KB cell line was evaluated. We conclude that the main antifungal component of D. damavandica is an angular furanocoumarin. The antifungal activity and low cytotoxicity of angelicin make it a potentially useful target for further research.