The enzyme inhibitory activities of compounds 1 and 2 were well correlated with their in vitro growth inhibitory potential on P. falciparum whole cells, providing evidence that the PfFab pathway may be the potential cellular target of these compounds. The antimalarial activity of compound 7, however, is possibly off-target, as the IC50 values for PfFabI and PfFabZ enzymes are much higher in comparison to its antiplasmodial activity