Secondary metabolites of Clitocybe nuda displayed antimicrobial activity against Phytophthora capsici. The culture filtrate of C. nuda was extracted with ethanol and chromatographically separated on a Sephadex LH-20 column and fractionated on a silica gel column to give eight fractions. These fractions were tested for the ability to inhibit zoospore germination of P.
capsici. The most active fraction was further purified by silica gel column chromatography to yield three compounds: 2-methoxy-5-methyl-6-methoxymethyl-p-benzoquinone (1), 6-hydroxy-2H-pyran-3-carbaldehyde (2), and indole-3-carbaldehyde (3), all new to C. nuda. At a concentration of 500 mg/L, compound 3 showed complete inhibition of zoospore germination, while compounds 1 and 2 showed inhibition rates of 97 and 86%, respectively. To our knowledge, compound 1 is a newly discovered compound and, for the other two compounds, this is the first report in C. nuda. These compounds are potential candidates for new edible fungi-derived pesticides for the control of plant diseases.
