Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts, Fractions and Betulin, 7-Methyl Juglone Obtained from Diospyros paniculata

Abstract

The Diospyros paniculata Dalz (Ebenaceae) has been used in folk medicine to treat several ailments including burns, gonorrhea, biliousness, blood poisoning, rheumatism and ulcer. In this work, we evaluated the phytochemical and antimicrobial activity of methanol extract (ME), some fractions of methanol extract [hexane (HF), chloroform (CF) and butanol fraction (BF)], as well as two pure compounds denoted as betulin (compound I), 7-methyl juglone (compound II) obtained from the stem bark of Diospyros paniculata. The compounds were isolated and identified by chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. The antimicrobial efficacy was tested against four types of bacteria (both Gram positive and Gram negative) and three types of fungi.

The hexane fraction was found to be very efficient against Shigella dysenteriae responsible for diarrhoea, chloroform fraction exhibited efficacy against Candida albicans. Compound I, which seems to be main active principle of hexane fraction, showed promising antibacterial effect, being more potent than ciprofloxacin while compound II from chloroform fraction showed antifungal activity, comparable to that of nystatin. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration values of both compounds I, II were found to be 30 and 75 μg/ml, respectively.