A new antifungal benzoic acid ester from <i>Uvaria narum</i>

<p><i>Uvaria narum</i> has been used for gastrointestinal problems, jaundice, fever and skin diseases in traditional and ethnomedical practices. Our preliminary antifungal screening of various leaf extracts of <i>U. narum</i> revealed very good antifungal activity for its acetone extract. Active principle of <i>U. narum</i> leaf acetone extract was isolated by bioactivity-guided fractionation and characterised as a new molecule, 2-<i>E</i>-(2″-oxo-5″-acetoxy cyclopent-3″-en-1″-ylidene) ethyl benzoate, by NMR, IR and mass spectroscopic analyses. This active isolate showed very good activity against the fungal pathogen, <i>Colletotrichum gloeosporioides</i>.</p