Chemical structure and antifungal activity of a number of triterpenoids.

Antifungal activity was tested in 49 pentacyclic triterpenoids and their glycosides, of plant and semisynthetic origin. Several of these compounds inhibited the multiplication of the yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. The highest antifungal activity was found in the triterpene glycosides oleanolic acid and hederagenin, which have a free carboxyl group at C 28(27). Triterpenes of the meristotropic acid, macedonic acid, and lupan types had no fungistatic activity at concentrations up to 100 microgram/ml.