SCREENING OF SOUTH AFRICAN PLANTS FOR ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL ACTIVITY
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| Title | SCREENING OF SOUTH AFRICAN PLANTS FOR ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIMYCOBACTERIAL ACTIVITY |
| Authors | |
| Abstract | The resistance of microorganisms such as multidrug-resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to available drugs has led to plants being investigated as alternative sources of drugs. Ten plant species from South Africa were tested for antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities after showing good activity in a preliminary screening. The biological activities were determined using a serial microdilution method1 and bioautography with four bacterial species, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and two mycobacterial species, Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. fortuitum. All the plant leaf acetone extracts of Ziziphus mucronata, Prunus africana, Ricinus communis, Rhus lancea, Antidesma venosum, Ptaeroxylon obliquum, Markhamia zanzibarica, Tecomaria capensis, Melianthus major and Lantana camara had good antibacterial and antimycobacterial activities with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values reaching as low as 0.02 mg/ml. One plant species, Ptaeroxylon obliquum, was chosen for further investigation as bioautography revealed the presence of three antimycobacterial compounds, and the MIC of the crude acetone extract was 0.16 mg/ml. Isolation of bioactive compounds from P. obliquum is underway. References: 1. Eloff JN, 1988 Planta Medica 64, 711-714. |
| Publisher | African Ethnomedicines Network |
| Date | 2009-06-07 |
| Source | African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative medicines (AJTCAM) ABSTRACTS OF THE WORLD CONGRESS ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS, CAPE TOWN NOVEMBER 2008 |
| Rights | Articles can be used for educational and non-comercial purposes. The copyrights of articles are retained by the authors with publication rights granted to AJTCAM. |