Eur. J. Wood Prod. (2011) 69: 207–212 DOI 10.1007/s00107-010-0413-2 ORIGINALS ORIGINALARBEITEN Antioxidant and antifungal activities of extracts from 15 selected hardwood species of Malaysian timber Fumio Kawamura · Sitti Fatimah M. Ramle · Othman Sulaiman · Rokiah Hashim · Seiji Ohara Received: 26 June 2009 / Published online: 5 February 2010 © Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract The antioxidant activities, total phenols and an- tifungal activities of 35 extracts samples from 15 species of Malaysian timber were investigated. The methanol ex- tracts from Mangifera indica heartwood were found to have superior antioxidant activity with an EC 50 value of 4.71 ± 0.89 μg/ml. Antioxidant activities correlated with total phe- nols contents. The methanol extracts from Neobalanocar- pus heimii bark and Cinnamomum porrectum heartwood showed moderate antifungal activity against a brown-rot fungus, Gloeophyllum trabeum. The methanol extracts from Neobalanocarpus heimii bark and Endospermum malac- cense inner wood showed the highest antifungal activity against a white-rot fungus, Pycnoporus sanguineus, at a minimum effective amount of 100 μg. The activities of these extracts were equal to the activity of the positive control, glycyrrhizic acid dipotassium salt, suggesting that they have great potential as a source of fungistats. F. Kawamura ( ) Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), 1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan e-mail: chw@affrc.go.jp Present address: F. Kawamura Department of Biomass Chemistry, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan S.F.M. Ramle · O. Sulaiman · R. Hashim Division of Bio-resource, Paper and Coatings Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia S. Ohara Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan Antioxidative und Pilz hemmende Wirksamkeit von Extraktstoffen aus 15 verschiedenen malaysischen Laubbaumarten Zusammenfassung Untersucht wurden die antioxidative Wirksamkeit, der gesamte Phenolgehalt sowie die Pilz hem- mende Wirksamkeit von 35 Extraktstoffproben aus 15 ver- schiedenen malaysischen Holzarten. Mit einem EC 50 Wert von 4,71 ± 0,89 μg/ml hatten die Methanolextraktstoffe des Mangifera indica Kernholzes die höchste antioxidative Wir- kung. Die antioxidative Wirksamkeit korrelierte mit dem Gesamtgehalt an Phenolen. Die Methanolextraktstoffe der Neobalanocarpus heimii Rinde und des Cinnamomum por- rectum Kernholzes ergaben eine moderate Pilz hemmen- de Wirkung gegen den Braunfäulepilz Gloeophyllum trabe- um. Bei einer Mindestmenge von 100 μg wiesen die Meth- anolextraktstoffe der Neobalanocarpus heimii Rinde und des Endospermum malaccense Kernholzes gegenüber dem Weißfäulepilz Pycnoporus sanguineus die höchste Pilz hem- mende Wirkung auf. Die Wirksamkeit dieser Extraktstoffe entsprach derjenigen der Kontrollprobe Glycyrrhizinsäure- Dikaliumsalz. Dies weist auf ihr großes Potential als fungi- zide Mittel hin. 1 Introduction It is well known that health-promoting polyphenols, used by plants to protect themselves from UV light, are com- monly present in red wine, tea, and other plant products (Bidel et al. 2007). Tropical plants are rich in functional constituents such as polyphenols, since they have to grow in harsh environments under intense UV light at high tempera- ture. Various uses of mempelam (mango, Mangifera indica)