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Article

Activity of Flavanols Extracted from Prosopis juliflora Mesquite on Growth Inhibition of Wood-Decaying Fungi and Their Synergistic Effect with Tebuconazole †

by
John Isemeki Owino
1,2,
Judith Tuimising
2,
Floriane Mangin
1,
Philippe Gerardin
1,
Ambrose Kiprop
2 and
Christine Gerardin-Charbonnier
1,*
1
Laboratoire d’Études et de Recherche sur le Matériau Bois (LERMAB), Institut National de Recherche pour L’Agriculture, L’Alimentation et L’Environnement (INRAE), Faculté des Sciences et Technologies, Université de Lorraine, P.O. Box 70239, 54506 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
2
School of Sciences and Aerospace Studies, Moi University, Eldoret P.O. Box 3900-30100, Kenya
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
This article is a revised and expanded version of a proceeding entitled “Antifungal activity of catechin and extractives from Prosopis juliflora against Trametes versicolor and Rhodonia placenta fungi and assessment of the synergistic response of their mixture with tebuconazole”, which was presented at IRG56 Scientific Conference on Wood Protection, Yokohama, Japan, 22–26 June 2025.
Forests 2025, 16(9), 1462; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091462
Submission received: 13 June 2025 / Revised: 24 July 2025 / Accepted: 30 July 2025 / Published: 13 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Wood Science and Forest Products)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

The antifungal effect of catechin and extractives from Prosopis juliflora was studied against one white rot fungus, Trametes versicolor (TV), and one brown rot fungus, Poria placenta (PP). The mentioned extractives from Prosopis julilfora were crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol. Tebuconazole was used in this study as a known fungicide against the two named fungi. Wood preservation using the current synthetic fungicides can be harmful to the environment and toxic to animals and plants. To help solve these problems, fungicides can be mixed with natural extractives to act synergistically as wood preservatives. Most of these natural extractives contain polyphenols, which are secondary metabolites, having good antioxidant properties, which may inhibit radical species involved in wood cell polymer defects. In this study, 1000 ppm and 5000 ppm of crude mesquitol, pure mesquitol and catechin had a very good growth inhibition against TV and PP. Thus, the concentrations were used to assess their synergistic response when mixed with lower inhibitory concentration of tebuconazole. The results showed that there was an additive effect in a combination of 0.1 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm pure mesquitol for PP, 0.5 ppm Tebuconazole with 1000 ppm crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol for PP and 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm pure mesquitol for TV. The other remaining combinations of 1000 ppm/5000 ppm of the samples with 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole all had synergistic effect. This data suggests that a combination of polyphenols (catechin and extractives) with tebuconazoles can be useful sources for preparation of fungicides and wood preservatives for agricultural use and wood durability, respectively.

1. Introduction

Woodworking companies have displayed a rising interest in dealing with a high-grade as well as damage-free woods that are considered to be of highest quality. To be specific, furniture production woods are in the upper price sector [1]. Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is considered a valuable species because of its affordability, workability and strength [2,3]. However, it is a non-durable species, highly affected by biotic agents such as fungi and insects under certain conditions. The common wood-degrading fungi are white rot and brown rot fungi, such as Trametes versicolor (TV) and Poria placenta (PP), respectively. These biotic agents attack the main components of the wood, such as lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose, that make up the cell wall [4,5,6]. Thus, there is a need to use products and techniques that can protect precious woods from decay and increase their durability [7]. Currently, chemical fungicides, like tebuconazole, are commonly used to control the effect of these fungi. The fungicides are toxic to the users. The continuous and unselective use of these fungicides leads to harmful effects on the environment and human health [8,9,10,11]. To solve these issues, fungicides can be mixed with extractives to act synergistically as a wood preservative for the non-durable woods [12,13].
Plant extractives contain phytochemicals, which are secondary metabolites derived from plants, that can interact with fungicides in three different ways, namely in a synergistic, antagonistic or additive way [14]. These three ways affect the general effectiveness of disease control. To have a synergistic interaction means that the combined effect of the phytochemicals and the fungicide is greater than the summation of effect of individual products. To have an antagonistic interaction means that the combined effect of the products is less compared to the sum of the effects of the individual ones. Additive interactions happen when the combined effect is considered to be equal to the sum of the effects of the individual ones [15,16]. From the three ways described, it has been found that plant extractives have the ability to improve the antifungal activity of different synthetic fungicides, and this leads to a greater antifungal effect than using either of the substances alone [17].
Secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, can help reduce the formation of free radicals in wood and thus, they may inhibit the activity of many phytopathogenic fungi affecting various species of wood [18,19,20,21]. They are considered to be natural antioxidants that can play a vital role in lowering oxidative stress and imbalances occurring in wood cell redox reactions, which are linked with reactive oxygen species. Most wood-degrading fungi make use of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are a subset of free radicals containing oxygen, to help in loosening plant cell walls, and this leads to different wood cell polymer defects [22,23]. thus antioxidants are needed to solve this problem. This is specifically relevant for brown rot fungi, which makes use of this oxidative mechanism for the degradation of wood [20,22]. White rot fungi produce different enzymes to help break down the complex polymers of wood, which include cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin [24,25]. Because of this, flavonoids, like other natural or non-natural antioxidant compounds, are able to act as enzyme inhibitors, whereby they target these particular enzymes that break down the plant cell wall or inhibit radical species involved in wood degradation [24,26,27,28,29]. Flavonoids can also directly degrade the cell wall of the fungi or indirectly disrupt the cell membrane of the fungi, thus resulting in weakening of the cell structure or cell damage and death of the fungi [26,30]. Therefore, secondary metabolites are a better control option in this case since they are also non-toxic and biodegradable products [31]. They can be used as sustainable means for the preparation of wood preservatives since they promote wood durability [7].
The main source of secondary metabolites is the extractives of plants [18,32]. In this study, the extractives are obtained from Prosopis juliflora, a shrubby tree 3–12 m in height that was introduced to Kenya, from Mexico, the Caribbean as well as northern South America, to stabilize soil and solve desertification issues in the country [33,34,35,36]. The tree later became invasive and was declared a deadly and stubborn weed in 2008; thus, there is a need to make use of its excess wood [37]. Prosopis juliflora was chosen for this research work because previous studies show that the heartwood part of the tree contains a high quantity of pure mesquitol, a polyphenol that has very good antioxidant properties [38,39,40]. The extractives from the heartwood part of the plants impart bio-deteriorative wood resistance to strong and durable species of wood that occur naturally. Polyphenols, such as flavonoids (for example, mesquitol), have generated lots of interest from many researchers around the world. Various studies have shown that polyphenols have many diverse health benefits, which include anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral properties as well as good antibacterial and antifungal properties [40,41,42,43].
Therefore, the study objectives were to evaluate the antifungal activity of catechin and extractives from Prosopis juliflora against Trametes versicolor and Poria placenta and to assess the synergistic response of the fungicide combinations of catechin and mesquitol, an extractive from Prosopis juliflora, with tebuconazole against the two fungi corresponding to an improved version of a proceeding presented at IRG56 Scientific Conference on Wood Protection [44].

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Reagents

Acetone (purity ≥ 99.5%), cyclohexane (purity ≥ 99%), catechin (purity ≥ 98%) and tebuconazole (purity ≥ 98%) were purchased without any further purification from Sigma-Aldrich (Darmstadt, Germany). Distilled water used was obtained from the laboratory water distiller. Malt extract, nutrient agar and 8.5 cm Petri dishes were also bought from Sigma-Aldrich (Germany).

2.2. Materials

Prosopis juliflora plant samples were collected mainly from Baringo County (latitude 0°35′0″ N, longitude 36°00′32.5″ E) in Kenya. The stem parts of a 20-year-old Prosopis juliflora plant were cut down and the heartwood part of the wood was obtained from the samples. The heartwood parts were air dried under shade and then ground into fine powders using a Fritsch pulverisette 9 laboratory vibrating cup mill (Fritsch, Idar-Oberstein, Germany) at 1100 RPM for 3 min and passed through a 115-mesh sieve for sieving. Crude mesquitol was obtained from extraction of the obtained sawdust from the heartwood part of Prosopis juliflora. Pure mesquitol was obtained from the purification of the crude mesquitol extract.

2.3. Extraction and Purification of Mesquitol

2.3.1. Maceration Extraction

Triplicate maceration extractions were carried at 40 °C using a Büchi rotavapor R-200 apparatus (Idar-Oberstein, Switzerland) which helped in the provision of the mechanical stirring of the extracts at 80 RPM. Two solvents were used for this study, namely cyclohexane and acetone. A measure of 60 g of the solid plant sample was dissolved in 600 mL of solvent. Cyclohexane solvent extraction was performed for 2 h and acetone solvent extraction was performed for 6 h. The maceration extraction method produced different yields that were calculated in percentages using the formula in Equation (1), below:
%   y i e l d = M b M a × 100
where Ma is the mass of the sample powder before extraction and Mb is the mass of the extractives after extraction.

2.3.2. Purification

Purification of mesquitol was performed through the slow wash of the acetone extract with a 3:7 cyclohexane and ethyl acetate (v/v) solvent mixture using a 600 mL silica-bed fritted glass Pyrex Buchner funnel with fine porosity under low pressure. This was the best solvent mixture for TLC separation of pure mesquitol, and it depended on the particular compounds in the crude extract that are being separated as well as the polarity of the stationary phase. To obtain a good solvent mixture for separation, it is recommended to use a polar solvent and a non-polar solvent. The time taken for purification mostly varies depending on the amount of solid deposit used for the purification process. This is a slow wash purification and often takes 1–2 h. After purification, the obtained filtrates containing mesquitol in the form of collected fractions were concentrated on a Büchi rotavapor R-200. The obtained yields of mesquitol were also calculated in percentages using the formula in Equation (2), below:
%   y i e l d = M d M c × 100
where Mc is the mass of the sample powder before purification and Md is the mass of pure mesquitol after purification.
The final product is a yellow solid sample that was confirmed to be mesquitol through FTIR and NMR analysis.

2.4. FTIR Analysis

FTIR spectra were recorded with a Perkin Elmer FTIR spectrometer using the ATR method (Perkin Elmer, Waltham, MA, USA).

2.5. NMR Analysis

Both 1H NMR and 13C NMR analyses were performed using a Bruker 400 MHz (Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA). The spectra were recorded using acetone deuterated solvent (acetone-d6). The chemical shifts (δ) were expressed in parts per million (ppm) and the coupling constants (J) were given in hertz (Hz). The chemical shifts were thus reported comparative to the acetone solvent peak. Peak multiplicities were documented as singlets (s), doublets (d), doublets of doublets (dd), triplet of doublets (td) and multiplets (m).

2.6. Microorganisms

One white rot fungus, namely Trametes versicolor (TV), and one brown rot fungus, namely Poria placenta (PP), were used to assess the growth inhibition effect of crude mesquitol extract, pure mesquitol, catechin, tebuconazole and other samples. Catechin is a known flavanol that has good antifungal activity; thus, it is used a reference natural fungicide, whereas tebuconazole is a synthetic fungicide [45,46,47].

2.7. Fungal Growth Tests

The procedure was performed according to the method of Bopenga Bopenga et al. [48], which was a slightly modified procedure from Chang et al. [49]. Different concentrations of samples from 100 ppm to 10,000 ppm were solubilized in the minimum amount solvent (1–2 mL maximum water or acetone) and then added to 120 mL of sterilized cooled malt extract–agar solution prepared by dissolving 4% malt extract and 2% nutrient agar in distilled water. Then, 20 mL of media from each concentration was transferred into 6 Petri dishes to allow the experiment to be performed in triplicates for the TV and PP. Grown white rot fungi and brown rot fungi were then inoculated to the media by cutting a small portion and placing it at the center of the Petri dish. Six more Petri dishes holding the media without extractives were similarly inoculated with the two fungi as control tests for the experiment. The experiment was performed under incubation at a temperature of 22 °C with a relative humidity of 70% and the fungal mycelial growth was monitored daily by measuring the control distance of colony and extractive distance of the colony till the mycelium completely covered the control Petri dish.
Firstly, crude mesquitol, pure mesquitol and catechin were used to assess their antifungal activity at varying concentrations on the two fungi. Secondly, a tebuconazole sample was also tested on TV and PP fungi to determine the lowest concentration at which tebuconazole has a minimal effect on TV and PP. Thirdly, a mixture of the samples with lower concentrations of tebuconazole (0.1 ppm and 0.5 ppm) were used to assess their synergistic response against the two fungi.
The ability of the samples to inhibit the growth of the fungi was calculated using the antifungal index (AI) formula in Equation (3), below [49]:
A I   ( % ) = ( D C − D E ) D C × 100
where DC is the control distance (cm) and DE is the extractives distance (cm) of the colony. The results of the AI (%) depended mostly on the control distance (DC).

2.8. Synergistic and Antagonistic Tests

According to Colby [50], synergistic and antagonistic responses when fungicides are combined can be calculated using the expected response formula. He further clarifies that when the observed/experimental response is greater than expected response, then the combination of the fungicide is synergistic; however, when it is less than the expected response, then it is antagonistic combination. If the observed response and the expected response are the same, then the combination of the two is additive. The formula is given as Equation (4):
E = X + Y − ( X Y 100 )
whereby E = expected response, X = antifungal index of sample X and Y = antifungal index of sample Y.

3. Results

3.1. Extraction and Purification of Mesquitol

The maceration extraction method produced different yields, as seen in Table 1.
Cyclohexane was used as a solvent to remove lipophilic compounds present in the plant. Acetone was then used as a solvent to obtain mesquitol, a hydrophilic compound, present in the plant. Previous studies show that acetone extract contains mainly mesquitol [38,39]. The obtained acetone extract was thus purified using cyclohexane and ethyl acetate solvent mixture to obtain a percentage yield of 66.3 ± 1.53% of pure mesquitol.

3.2. Characterization of Mesquitol

The structure of the obtained pure mesquitol is as shown in Figure 1.
Pure mesquitol was characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR, as shown below:
  • 1H NMR (400 MHz, Acetone-d6) δ (ppm): 7.51 (1H, s, HOH), 7.48 (1H, s, HOH), 7.44 (1H, s, HOH), 7.31 (1H, s, HOH), 6.73–6.62 (3H, m, H2′, 5′, 6′), 6.27–6.25 (2H, m, H5, 6), 4.5 (1H, d, J 7.6 Hz, H2), 3.9 (1H, td, J 5.3 and 6.8 Hz, H3), 3.9 (1H, s, HOH), 2.8 (1H, dd, J 5.2 and 15.7 Hz, H4), 2.6 (1H, dd, J 8.5 and 15.7 Hz, H4).
  • 13C NMR (400 MHz, Acetone-d6) δ (ppm): δ (ppm): 82.18 (C-2), 67.52 (C-3), 32.77 (C-4), 108.18 (C-5), 119.3 (C-6), 144.77.00 (C-7), 144.91 (C-8), 132.57 (C-9), 112.43 (C-10), 131.00 (C-1′), 119.05 (C-2′), 143.96 (C-3′), 142.66 (C-4′), 114.86 (C-5′), 114.35 (C-6′).
  • FTIR (υ max cm−1): 3500–3100 (O-H stretch), 2950–2850 (C-H stretch, aliphatic), 1610, 1691 (C=C stretch, aromatic).

3.3. Fungal Growth Inhibition

The growth inhibition test of the two fungi was carried on crude mesquitol (CM), pure mesquitol (PM), catechin (K), tebuconazole (T) and mixtures of tebuconazole with the extractives.

3.3.1. Crude Mesquitol, Pure Mesquitol and Catechin Growth Inhibition of Fungi

Crude mesquitol, pure mesquitol and catechin had good antifungal activity as the concentration increased from 100 ppm to 10,000 ppm. This can be seen as their percentage antifungal index increased from a lower concentration to a higher concentration (Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4).

3.3.2. Tebuconazole Growth Inhibition of Fungi

Several concentrations of tebuconazole, a fungicide, were tested on TV and PP. Tebuconazole had 100% growth inhibition on the two fungi from 1000 ppm to 10 ppm. At lower than 10 ppm concentrations, the inhibition rate reduced and varied until 0.01 ppm, as seen in Figure 5. To assess ability of synergy through combination of tebuconazole with other samples, concentrations of 0.1 ppm and 0.5 ppm were chosen from the results.

3.3.3. Growth Inhibition of Fungi on 1000 ppm/5000 ppm Sample Mixtures with 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm Tebuconazole

Figure 6, below, and Figure A1 and Figure A2 (Appendix A) show the growth inhibition results from a combination of 0.1 ppm and 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm and 5000 ppm of the treatment samples.

3.4. Synergistic and Antagonistic Effect

For this study, Table 2 and Table 3, below, show the synergistic/additive/antagonistic responses, as calculated using Colby formula. The values of the expected responses and observed responses for the 0.5 TPM-1000 combination for TV fungi and 0.5 TCM-1000 and 0.5 TPM-1000 combinations for PP fungi are approximately equal; thus, the effect is more additive.

4. Discussion

To obtain pure mesquitol, the crude extract undergoes purification. The acetone extract is what is referred to as the crude mesquitol in this study. The crude mesquitol was thus further purified to obtain pure mesquitol. The crude and pure mesquitol obtained by this method, together with catechin and tebuconazole, were used for growth inhibition tests on TV and PP fungi at different concentrations. The samples at different concentrations were mixed with lower concentrations of tebuconazole to assess their synergistic effect on the two fungi. The results in Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4 show that growth inhibition activity of the compounds increased as the concentrations increased [8]. Considering the concentration and type of fungus used, pure mesquitol is more efficient for TV while crude mesquitol is more efficient for PP. Catechin is more efficient for TV up to 5000 ppm, but at 10,000 ppm, it becomes more efficient for PP. The efficiency according to the graphs depends on concentration and it needs approximately 5000 ppm for inhibition of 50%.
Tebuconazole is a triazole fungicide known for its curative, protective and eradicant effect on fungi that affect plants and wood materials [45,51]. Phytopathogenic fungi are mainly controlled and regulated by known synthetic fungicides such as tebuconazole, which is a reference fungicide in the study. Nevertheless, the continuous use of these fungicides is gradually restricted because they have harmful effects to the environment as well as human health [8]. Thus, there is a need for novel natural fungicides or an alternative option with less toxicity. Plants are considered to be rich in bioactive secondary metabolites like tannins, flavonoids, stilbenes and alkaloids, amongst other compounds, that possess in vitro antifungal properties as well as good antioxidant properties [18,40]. The antifungal properties of most extractives from plants are associated with the antioxidant activity of their phenolic content [20,22,52]. A combination of the secondary metabolites, containing polyphenols, with the fungicides can produce a synergistic response that will produce an improved antifungal effect with less toxicity to the users [12,13,53,54], as seen in Figure 6. From Table 2, it can be seen that an additive effect exists in combinations of 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm pure mesquitol in TV. From Table 3, it can be seen that an additive effect exists in combinations of 0.1 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm pure mesquitol, 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm crude mesquitol and 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 1000 ppm pure mesquitol for PP. For the combinations whose expected responses were approximately equal to the observed responses, they were concluded to have an additive effect. The other remaining combinations of 1000 ppm/5000 ppm of the samples with 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole all had a synergistic effect. The combined fungicide mixtures have a broad spectrum of antifungal activity and thus they may provide better disease control as compared to single components. The mixture can also reduce the risk of the fungi developing resistance, with the ultimate aim of providing effective and lifelong wood protectants [10,13].

5. Conclusions

Synergy is a common terminology used in mixtures of fungicides. The synergistic interaction is generally noticeable when the individual components (catechin, mesquitol and tebuconazole) are applied simultaneously. In this study, crude mesquitol, pure mesquitol and catechin display some antifungal activity against TV and PP fungi and this can be improved by increasing the concentrations. The combination of the polyphenols (mesquitol or catechin) with tebuconazole shows that a synergy exists between the two. The synergistic interactions have a very good antifungal effect on TV and PP fungi, which implies that they can be used for developing good fungicides and wood preservatives for beech wood. The developed fungicides and wood preservatives can be used for agricultural applications and to improve beech wood’s resistance to decay caused by the fungi, respectively.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization C.G.-C. and P.G.; methodology C.G.-C. and P.G.; validation, J.I.O., A.K., P.G. and C.G.-C.; formal analysis, J.I.O., J.T., F.M. and C.G.-C.; investigation, J.I.O., J.T. and F.M.; resources, C.G.-C.; data curation, J.I.O., F.M., P.G. and C.G.-C.; writing—original draft preparation, J.I.O.; writing—review and editing, A.K., P.G. and C.G.-C.; visualization: J.I.O., and C.G.-C.; supervision, F.M., A.K. and C.G.-C.; project administration, C.G.-C.; funding acquisition, A.K. and C.G.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

The project was funded by LERMaB, which is sponsored by the ARTEMIS program from Lorraine Université d’Excellence (ANR-15-IDEX-04-LUE).

Data Availability Statement

The datasets used and analyzed in this study are available and can be submitted upon request by the authors.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Kenyan French Embassy for the financial support of J.I.O. and LERMaB for funding the project.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:
1H NMRproton nuclear magnetic resonance
13C NMRcarbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance
FTIRFourier transform infrared spectroscopy
RPMrevolutions per minute
ROS reactive oxygen species
TLCthin-layer chromatography
v/vvolume per volume

Appendix A

The following are some of the pictures that were taken during the fungal growth inhibition tests. The inhibition activity was carried out for 8–10 days. Figure A1 and Figure A2 show the images of antifungal activity on the last day of the experiment when the control Petri dishes were fully covered by the mycelial growth of the fungi.
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Figure A1. Growth inhibition results for a combination of 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 5000 ppm catechin and crude mesquitol for TV fungi.
Figure A1. Growth inhibition results for a combination of 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 5000 ppm catechin and crude mesquitol for TV fungi.
Forests 16 01462 g0a1
Forests 16 01462 g0a2
Figure A2. Growth inhibition results for a combination of 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 5000 ppm catechin and crude mesquitol for PP fungi.
Figure A2. Growth inhibition results for a combination of 0.1 ppm/0.5 ppm tebuconazole with 5000 ppm catechin and crude mesquitol for PP fungi.
Forests 16 01462 g0a2

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Figure 1. Structure of mesquitol.
Figure 1. Structure of mesquitol.
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Figure 2. Fungal growth inhibition test of crude mesquitol.
Figure 2. Fungal growth inhibition test of crude mesquitol.
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Figure 3. Fungal growth inhibition test of pure mesquitol.
Figure 3. Fungal growth inhibition test of pure mesquitol.
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Figure 4. Fungal growth inhibition test of catechin.
Figure 4. Fungal growth inhibition test of catechin.
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Figure 5. Fungal growth inhibition test of tebuconazole.
Figure 5. Fungal growth inhibition test of tebuconazole.
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Figure 6. (a) Fungal growth inhibition test of mixtures of 0.1 ppm tebuconazole with different samples (catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol); (b) Fungal growth inhibition test of mixtures of 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with different samples (catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol) [0.1 T = 0.1 ppm tebuconazole, 0.5 T = 0.5 ppm tebuconazole, K-1000 = 1000 ppm catechin, K-5000 = 5000 ppm catechin, CM-1000 = 1000 ppm crude mesquitol, CM-5000 = 5000 ppm crude mesquitol, PM-1000 = 1000 ppm pure mesquitol].
Figure 6. (a) Fungal growth inhibition test of mixtures of 0.1 ppm tebuconazole with different samples (catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol); (b) Fungal growth inhibition test of mixtures of 0.5 ppm tebuconazole with different samples (catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol) [0.1 T = 0.1 ppm tebuconazole, 0.5 T = 0.5 ppm tebuconazole, K-1000 = 1000 ppm catechin, K-5000 = 5000 ppm catechin, CM-1000 = 1000 ppm crude mesquitol, CM-5000 = 5000 ppm crude mesquitol, PM-1000 = 1000 ppm pure mesquitol].
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Table 1. Maceration extractives obtained from Prosopis juliflora sawdust.
Table 1. Maceration extractives obtained from Prosopis juliflora sawdust.
SolventYield [%]
Cyclohexane0.27 ± 0.05
Acetone5.86 ± 0.26
Table 2. Synergistic, additive and antagonistic responses of different combinations of samples of tebuconazole with catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol using TV fungi.
Table 2. Synergistic, additive and antagonistic responses of different combinations of samples of tebuconazole with catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol using TV fungi.
X SampleY SampleCombinationExpected Response (E)Observed Response (O)ComparisonSynergistic/Additive/Antagonistic Effect
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm K0.1 TK-10004468O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm CM0.1 TCM-10003875O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm PM0.1 TPM-10006472O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm K0.5 TK-10007495O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm CM0.5 TCM-10007181O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm PM0.5 TPM-10008378E ≈ OAdditive
0.1 ppm T5000 ppm K0.1 TK-50007496O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T5000 ppm CM0.1 TCM-50006192O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T5000 ppm K0.5 TK-50008899O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T5000 ppm CM0.5 TCM-50008297O > ESynergistic
Table 3. Synergistic, additive and antagonistic responses of different combinations of samples of tebuconazole with catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol using PP fungi.
Table 3. Synergistic, additive and antagonistic responses of different combinations of samples of tebuconazole with catechin, crude mesquitol and pure mesquitol using PP fungi.
X SampleY SampleCombinationExpected Response (E)Observed Response (O)ComparisonSynergistic/Additive/Antagonistic Effect
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm K0.1 TK-10002858O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm CM0.1 TCM-10004548O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T1000 ppm PM0.1 TPM-10005252E = OAdditive
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm K0.5 TK-10004681O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm CM0.5 TCM-10005954E ≈ OAdditive
0.5 ppm T1000 ppm PM0.5 TPM-10006562E ≈ OAdditive
0.1 ppm T5000 ppm K0.1 TK-50004998O > ESynergistic
0.1 ppm T5000 ppm CM0.1 TCM-50007994O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T5000 ppm K0.5 TK-500062100O > ESynergistic
0.5 ppm T5000 ppm CM0.5 TCM-50008497O > ESynergistic
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Owino, J.I.; Tuimising, J.; Mangin, F.; Gerardin, P.; Kiprop, A.; Gerardin-Charbonnier, C. Activity of Flavanols Extracted from Prosopis juliflora Mesquite on Growth Inhibition of Wood-Decaying Fungi and Their Synergistic Effect with Tebuconazole. Forests 2025, 16, 1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091462

AMA Style

Owino JI, Tuimising J, Mangin F, Gerardin P, Kiprop A, Gerardin-Charbonnier C. Activity of Flavanols Extracted from Prosopis juliflora Mesquite on Growth Inhibition of Wood-Decaying Fungi and Their Synergistic Effect with Tebuconazole. Forests. 2025; 16(9):1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091462

Chicago/Turabian Style

Owino, John Isemeki, Judith Tuimising, Floriane Mangin, Philippe Gerardin, Ambrose Kiprop, and Christine Gerardin-Charbonnier. 2025. "Activity of Flavanols Extracted from Prosopis juliflora Mesquite on Growth Inhibition of Wood-Decaying Fungi and Their Synergistic Effect with Tebuconazole" Forests 16, no. 9: 1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091462

APA Style

Owino, J. I., Tuimising, J., Mangin, F., Gerardin, P., Kiprop, A., & Gerardin-Charbonnier, C. (2025). Activity of Flavanols Extracted from Prosopis juliflora Mesquite on Growth Inhibition of Wood-Decaying Fungi and Their Synergistic Effect with Tebuconazole. Forests, 16(9), 1462. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16091462

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