LAUSR

BACKGROUND Research into environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional plant protection products, in order to promote sustainable agriculture and healthy food, is strongly encouraged. RESULTS In that context, twenty naturally occurring terpenoids and phenolic compounds have been selected and evaluated in vitro as crop protection compounds against Zymoseptoria tritici, the causal agent of Septoria tritici blotch of wheat. After selection of the most active compounds, some hemisynthetic modifications have been conducted to modify their lipophilicity. These modifications led to the discovery of sesamol esters as promising antifungal agents, with IC50 around 10 μg/mL and a total absence of cytotoxicity against human cells. CONCLUSION These sesamol-based derivatives should be selected for further evaluations in planta to validate their use as wheat crop protection agents. Moreover, the importance of a balanced hydrophily/lipophilicity ratio should be further studied.