Screening For Antibacterial And Antifungal Compounds In Bersama Abyssinica Fresen

Medicinal plants contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat chronic illness as well as infectious diseases. A vast knowledge of how to use the plants against different illnesses may be expected to have accumulated in areas where plants are commonly used. Conventional medicine has created problems due to microbial resistance. This has enhanced the interest in search for natural products with medicinal property. Information on the chemical constituents in herbs aid in discovering new therapeutic drugs. Bersama abyssinica was selected for this study because of its uses in traditional medicine as an antimicrobial agent. For example, the bark, root, and leaf decoctions are taken to treat a range of stomach disorders such as abdominal pain, colic, diarrhoea, intestinal worms and amoebiasis. A stem bark decoction is drunk to cure cancer and rheumatism. The overall objective of this study was to extract, isolate and characterize bioactive compounds with antibacterial and antifungal activities in Bersama abyssinica. Crude extracts of the stem bark was bioassayed for antibacterial and antifungal activities. Column chromatography, thin layer chromatography and vacuum liquid chromatography were used for separation, isolation and purification of the extracts. Spectroscopic techniques were used to elucidate their structures. Six compounds were isolated which include: β-sitosterol (TN4), β- stigmasterol (TN3), β-sitosterol glycoside (TN2), lupeol (TN5), oleanolic acid (TN6), and an anthraquinone [Bersamanone] (TN1). From the isolated compounds, five have been previously reported in literature while Bersamanone is reported for the first time from this plant species.