The antibacterial activity of Libanstin from Ilex paraguariensis (Yerba Mate)

Infectious diseases are reported to be one of the major causes of death in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns of an increase in the deaths number because of antibacterial resistance. Lately, a trend towards searching for new active antibacterial compounds in plants has been observed. Ilex paraguariensis, known as Yerba Mate, is a plant known to be rich in numerous bioactive compounds that have an important role in human health. In this study, Yerba Mate was extracted with acetone: water (1:1) and further fractionated with hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate. The obtained fractions were tested for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella species. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values on S. aureus ranged from 1.56 to 3.12 mg/mL for both the chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions. Whereas for the water fraction, the MIC values ranged from 0.78 to 3.12 mg/mL on S. aureus and ranged from 1.56 mg/mL to 3.12 mg/mL on Salmonella species. The aqueous fraction was further treated with different enzymes to mimic in vivo digestion and the fractions obtained were then tested for antibacterial activity. Furthermore, the Yerba Mate aqueous fraction was run on High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and collected fractions were tested for antibacterial activity, to identify the active metabolite. Fraction 3 was tested on different strains of S. aureus and the MIC values ranged from 0.19 to 1.56 μg/mL. A novel pyrazinone, Libanstin, from Ilex paraguariensis was identified using NMR spectroscopy.