Antibacterial activity of flavanostilbenes against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Three phytochemical compounds (alopecurone A-C), flavanostilbenes which are produced by condensation between a hydroxyflavanone and a hydroxystilbene, were isolated as major components from the root of Sophora alopecuroides. They uniformly inhibited the growth of 21 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 3.13-6.25 micrograms ml-1.