Pepper Compound Mighty Against Mold.

This article discusses a study of the potential of CAY-1, a pepper saponin extract, as a fungicide against several grape pathogens. Anthony De Lucca, microbiologist at the U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and colleagues reported evidence of the presence of the extract in cayenne pepper. They believed that saponins attach to fungal membranes where they cause cell components to leak, followed by cell death.