Abstract
Spilanthes acmella Murr. (Compositae) has been used as a traditional medicine for toothache, rheumatism and fever. Its extracts had been shown to exhibit vasorelaxant and antioxidant activities. Herein, its antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were evaluated. Agar dilution method assays against 27 strains of microorganisms were performed. Results showed that fractions from the chloroform and methanol extracts inhibited the growth of many tested organisms, e.g. Corynebacterium diphtheriae NCTC 10356 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 64-256 μg/mL and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633 with MIC of 128-256 μg/mL. The tested fractions all exhibited antioxidant properties in both DPPH and SOD assays. Potent radical scavenging activity was observed in the DPPH assay. No cytotoxic effects of the extracts against KB and HuCCA-1 cell lines were evident. Bioassay-guided isolation resulted in a diverse group of bioactive compounds such as phenolics [vanillic acid (2), trans-ferulic acid (5) and trans-isoferulic acid (6)], coumarin (scopoletin, 4) and triterpenoids like 3-acetylaleuritolic acid (1), β-sitostenone (3), stigmasterol and stigmasteryl-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosides, in addition to a mixture of stigmasteryl-and β-sitosteryl-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosides. The compounds 1–6 represent bioactive metabolites of S. acmella Murr. that were never previously reported. Our findings demonstrate for the first time the potential benefits of this medicinal plant as a rich source of high therapeutic value compounds for medicines, cosmetics, supplements and as a health food.
Highlights
Spilanthes acmella Murr. (Compositae) is the well known “toothache plant”, commonly used as a spice
Its extract is an active component added to body and beauty care cosmetics as a fast acting muscle relaxant to accelerate repair of functional wrinkles [6]
The structures were confirmed by comparison of their spectral data (UV, Infrared spectra (IR), 1H- and 13C-NMR) with literature data
Summary
Spilanthes acmella Murr. (Compositae) is the well known “toothache plant”, commonly used as a spice. The hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts, fractions C2-C11, C2.2, C2.3, C2.7, C3.2, E1-E14, F1-F5 and M1-M6 and isolates 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, stigmasterol, SG and MBSG of S. acmella The results (Table 2) showed that hexane and chloroform extracts completely inhibited the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC 2601 with MIC 256 μg/mL. Fractions C3, C4, C5, C2.2, C2.3, C 2.7 and C3.2 isolated from the chloroform extract exhibited antigrowth activity against C. diphtheriae NCTC 10356 with MIC 64-256 μg/mL.
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