ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITIES OF EXTRACTS FROM HEARTWOOD, SAPWOOD AND BARK OF 11 MALAYSIAN TIMBERS AGAINST GLoEOPHYLLUM TRABEUM AND PYCNOPORUS SANGUINEUS

Antifungal activities of 33 methanol extracts obtained from the bark, sapwood and heartwood of 11 Malaysian timbers, Dipterocarpus apterus, Shorea curtisii, Hopea odorata, Calophyllum rubiginosum, Calophyllum symingtonianum, Cynometra inaequifolia, Swintonia schwenkii, Dyera costulata, Sandoricum koetjape, Pimeleodendron griffithianum and Pterocarpus indicus were evaluated against the brown-rot fungus Gloeophyllum trabeum and the white-rot fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus using a medium in which homogenised hyphae were dispersed. The heartwood of C. symingtonianum and the outer wood of S. schwenkii showed high antifungal activities against G. trabeum while the heartwoods of P. indicus and C. symingtonianum, the bark and sapwood of P. griffithianum, and the sapwood of C. rubiginosum showed high antifungal activities against P. sanguineus. The activities of methanol extracts from selected parts of these wood species were higher than that of the positive control, glycyrrhizic acid dipotassium salt, and results suggest the potential of these extracts as fungistats.