Abstract
Punica granatum L. (pomegranate) fruit is known to be an important source of bioactive phenolic compounds belonging to hydrolysable tannins. Pomegranate extracts have shown antifungal activity, but the compounds responsible for this activity and their mechanism/s of action have not been completely elucidated up to now. The aim of the present study was the investigation of the inhibition ability of a selection of pomegranate phenolic compounds (i.e., punicalagin, punicalin, ellagic acid, gallic acid) on both plant and human fungal pathogens. In addition, the biological target of punicalagin was identified here for the first time. The antifungal activity of pomegranate phenolics was evaluated by means of Agar Disk Diffusion Assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) evaluation. A chemoinformatic analysis predicted for the first time topoisomerases I and II as potential biological targets of punicalagin, and this prediction was confirmed by in vitro inhibition assays. Concerning phytopathogens, all the tested compounds were effective, often similarly to the fungicide imazalil at the label dose. Particularly, punicalagin showed the lowest MIC for Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea, whereas punicalin was the most active compound in terms of growth control extent. As for human pathogens, punicalagin was the most active compound among the tested ones against Candida albicans reference strains, as well as against the clinically isolates. UHPLC coupled with HRMS indicated that C. albicans, similarly to the phytopathogen Coniella granati, is able to hydrolyze both punicalagin and punicalin as a response to the fungal attack. Punicalagin showed a strong inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 9.0 and 4.6 µM against C. albicans topoisomerases I and II, respectively. Altogether, the results provide evidence that punicalagin is a valuable candidate to be further exploited as an antifungal agent in particular against human fungal infections.