Terpenoids, one of the major components of essential oils, are known to exert potent antifungal activity against yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They have been the subject of a considerable number of investigations that uncovered extensive pharmacological properties, including antifungal and antibacterial effects. However, their mechanism of action remains elusive. In order to use terpenoids as the antimicrobial and antifungal agents in food preservation in a rational way, a good knowledge of their mode of action is required. We hypothesized that the cellular membrane is the main target site for the antifungal agents, and that structural properties of these agents are key to penetrate and act upon phospholipid bilayers. In this study, we thus aimed to study the effect of terpenoids on the cell membrane integrity, with the focus on both their structural properties, such as the presence of aromatic ring or hydroxyl group; and their hydrophobicity, as a consequence of these structural features. We first uncovered the antifungal properties of phenolic terpenoids thymol, carvacrol and eugenol, cyclic terpenes limonene, carveol, and α-pinene, in addition to the closely related compounds of different chemical structures. We then examined the cell membrane deterioration upon the addition of these reagents. Our results demonstrate that the presence of a phenolic –OH moiety is crucial, and hydrophobicity gained by the aromatic ring structure contributes to the ability of penetration and damaging yeast plasma membrane to achieve high antifungal activity.

萜类化合物是精油的主要成分之一，已知具有对酵母酿酒酵母（Saccharomyces cerevisiae）发挥有效的抗真菌活性的作用。。它们已经成为许多研究的主题，这些研究发现了广泛的药理特性，包括抗真菌和抗菌作用。但是，它们的作用机理仍然难以捉摸。为了以合理的方式将萜类化合物用作食品防腐中的抗菌剂和抗真菌剂，需要对它们的作用方式有充分的了解。我们假设细胞膜是抗真菌剂的主要目标部位，并且这些剂的结构性质是渗透并作用于磷脂双层的关键。因此，在这项研究中，我们旨在研究萜类化合物对细胞膜完整性的影响，重点是它们的结构特性，例如芳环或羟基的存在。及其疏水性 这些结构特征的结果。我们首先发现了酚类萜类百里酚，香芹酚和丁香酚，环状萜烯柠檬烯，香芹酚和α-pine烯的抗真菌特性，以及不同化学结构的密切相关化合物。然后我们检查了添加这些试剂后细胞膜的变质。我们的结果表明，酚基-OH部分的存在至关重要，而芳香环结构获得的疏水性有助于渗透和破坏酵母质膜以实现高抗真菌活性。然后我们检查了添加这些试剂后细胞膜的变质。我们的结果表明，酚基-OH部分的存在至关重要，而芳香环结构获得的疏水性有助于渗透和破坏酵母质膜以实现高抗真菌活性。然后我们检查了添加这些试剂后细胞膜的变质。我们的结果表明，酚基-OH部分的存在至关重要，而芳香环结构获得的疏水性有助于渗透和破坏酵母质膜以实现高抗真菌活性。