Fractions from extracts of plants belonging to the families Apocynaceae and Verbenaceae were used to com- pare the two antifungals tests methods. Crude extracts, fractions and purified substances from plant species of the families Piperaceae, Rubiaceae, Clusiaceae, Fabaceae and Lauraceae from the FAPESP Biota project were then evaluated by the microdilution test. We used chromatographic procedures like high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) to isolate bioactive pure compounds or semipurified fractions.