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Isolation of antibacterial fatty acids from Schotia brachypetala
L J McGaw1, A K Jäger, J van Staden
1Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Botany and Zoology, University of Natal Pietermaritzburg, Private Bag X01, 3209, Scottsville, South Africa.
Fitoterapia
|August 8, 2002
Abstract:
In southern Africa, the roots of Schotia brachypetala are used by traditional healers to treat dysentery and diarrhoea. Activity-directed fractionation of the ethanol extract of the dried leaves yielded 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic (linolenic) acid and methyl-5,11,14,17-eicosatetraenoate. These fatty acids displayed antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus and to a lesser extent, against the Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.