Abstract
BackgroundCalothamnus quadrifidus R.Br has many traditional uses and there are few reports about its chemical and biological activities. So our aim is to isolate the triterpenoidal compounds from dichloromethane fraction (DCMF) of Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br leaves and in addition to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the isolated compounds.MethodsDCMF of C. quadrifidus leaves was subjected to different chromatographic techniques to isolate pure triterpenoidal compounds which were identified using different chemical and spectroscopic techniques. Antibacterial activities of the isolated compounds were evaluated using agar well diffusion method while minimum inhibitory concentration was assessed by microtiter plate assay method.ResultsFive compounds were isolated and they were betulinic acid (1), ursolic acid (2), 3-acetyl-23-hydroxy betulinic acid (3), 2,23-dihydroxy betulinic acid (4) and 2,21,23-trihydroxy betulinic acid (5) were isolated from DCMF of C. quadrifidus leaves for the first time. Compounds 4 and 5 showed strong antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium while compound 4, 5 and 3, 4 exhibits moderate effect against E.coli and S. aureus respectively.ConclusionPure triterpenoidal compounds isolated from C. quadrifidus leaves showed antibacterial activities in different strengths.
Highlights
Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br has many traditional uses and there are few reports about its chemical and biological activities
Identification of the isolated compounds On the basis of their chromatographic properties including their appearance as violet color with p-anisaldehyde spray reagent, as well as spectral data (Table 1), it was found that the main skeleton of the compounds 1 and 3–5 (Fig. 1) belongs to lupane type [9]
All isolated compounds (1–5) were previously identified from the literature but they are isolated here for the first time from the leaves of C. quadrifidus as well as we focused on their antibacterial activity since many studies were concentrated for search for new antibacterial agents from natural sources due to the resistance of human pathogenic microorganisms to the major antibiotics [20]
Summary
Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br has many traditional uses and there are few reports about its chemical and biological activities. Our aim is to isolate the triterpenoidal compounds from dichloromethane fraction (DCMF) of Calothamnus quadrifidus R.Br leaves and in addition to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the isolated compounds. C. quadrifidus R.Br is an erect or spreading shrub of about three meter high with red flowers arranged in clusters on one side of the stem [2]. Few reports concerning the phytoconstitutents of C. quadrifidus, mainly focused on phenolics, including flavonols, flavanones, flavones, tannins and phenolic acids [3, 4] as well as evaluation of its essential oil was reported [3]. It was found that the aqueous ethanol extract of the aerial parts and aqueous methanol extract of leaves and stems for C. quadrifidus possesses analgesic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycaemic and antioxidant
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