Plant-derived antifungal proteins and peptides.

Plants produce potent constitutive and induced antifungal compounds to complement the structural barriers to microbial infection. Approximately 250,000-500,000 plant species exist, but only a few of these have been investigated for antimicrobial activity. Nevertheless, a wide spectrum of compound classes have been purified and found to have antifungal properties. The commercial potential of effective plant-produced antifungal compounds remains largely unexplored. This review article presents examples of these compounds and discusses their properties.