The endophytic fungus Hyalodendriella sp. Ponipodef12 was isolated from the hybrid ‘Neva’ of Populus deltoides Marsh × P. nigra L. In this study, four benzopyranones were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Hyalodendriella sp. Ponipodef12, and identified as palmariol B (1), 4-hydroxymellein (2), alternariol 9-methyl ether (3), and botrallin (4) by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. All the compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial, antifungal, antinematodal and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities. 4-Hydroxymellein (2) exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than the other compounds. Palmariol B (1) showed stronger antimicrobial, antinematodal and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities than alternariol 9-methyl ether (3) which indicated that the chlorine substitution at position 2 may contribute to its bioactivity. The results indicate the potential of this endophytic fungus as a source of bioactive benzopyranones.

A new C₉ monoterpenoid acid (litseacubebic acid, 1) and a known monoterpene lactone (6R)-3,7-dimethyl-7-hydroxy-2-octen-6-olide (2), along with three known compounds – vanillic acid (3), trans-3,4,5-trimethoxylcinnamyl alcohol (4), and oxonantenine (5) – were isolated with bioassay-guided purification from the fruit extract of Litsea cubeba collected in Tibet. The structure of 1 was elucidated by MS, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOE spectral data as 2,6-dimethyl-6-hydroxy-2E,4E-hepta-2,4-diene acid. Additionally 33 compounds were identified from the essential oil of L. cubeba. The preliminary bioassay results showed that 1 and 2 have good fungicidal activities against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Thanatephorus cucumeris, Pseudocer-cospora musae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides at the concentration of 588 and 272 μM, and the essential oil has good fungicidal activities against T. cucumeris and S. sclerotiorum, with IC₅₀ values of 115.58 and 151.25 μg/mL, repectively.

Halimodendron halodendron has been used as forage in northwestern China for a long time. Its young leaves and flowers are edible and favored by indigenous people. In this study, eleven phenolic compounds were bioassay-guided and isolated from the aerial parts of H. halodendron for the first time. They were identified by means of physicochemical and spectrometric analysis as quercetin (1), 3,5,7,8,4'-pentahydroxy-3'-methoxy flavone (2), 3-O-methylquercetin (3), 3,3'-di-O-methylquercetin (4), 3,3'-di-O-methylquercetin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), isorhamentin-3-O-β-D-rutinoside (6), 8-O-methylretusin (7), 8-O-methylretusin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8), salicylic acid (9), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (ferulic acid) (10), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamic acid (11). They were sorted as flavonols (1–6), soflavones (7 and 8), and phenolic acids (9–11). Among the compounds, flanools 1–4 revealed a strong antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 50–150 μg/mL, and median inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of 26.8–125.1 μg/mL. The two isoflavones (7 and 8) showed moderate inhibitory activity on the test bacteria. Three phenolic acids (9, 10 and 11) showed strong antibacterial activity with IC₅₀ values of 28.1–149.7 μg/mL. Antifungal activities of the compounds were similar to their antibacterial activities. All these phenolic compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity with a broad spectrum as well as antioxidant activity based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching assays. In general, the flavonol aglycones with relatively low polarity exhibited stronger activities than the glycosides. The results suggest the potential of this plant as a source of functional food ingredients and provide support data for its utilization as forage as well.