Characterization and antifungal activity of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) leaf extract obtained using conventional and emerging technologies

With the current agro-food industry demands for more environmentally-friendly production, the use of natural antifungal compounds extracted by emerging technologies led to a sustainable alternative to control microorganisms. Therefore, the present work aimed to: (i) determine antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Penicillium italicum of jackfruit leaf extracts obtained by different methods, and (ii) identify compounds by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS. Microwave (MAE), high-hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and ultrasound (UAE) assisted extractions were tested, followed by fractionation with different polarity solvents. The concentration of total soluble phenols (TSP), tannins (TT) and flavonoids (TF) were determined. Differences not only in the amounts of extracted phytochemicals were found but in the antifungal properties (MAE against P. italicum and HHP against C. gloeosporioides at 5 mg/ml) as well as in the chemical composition determined by HPLC-MS. These results suggest the possible application of jackfruit leaf extracts as a suitable postharvest antifungal treatment.

Keywords: Antifungal activity; Emerging extraction methods; Jackfruit leaves; Phenolic extracts.