Antibacterial constituents of the leaves of dacryodes edulis

Abstract

Dacryodes edulis is a dioecious, small to medium-sized tree, reaching 20 to 25 m high. Different parts of the plant are used to treat many diseases including skin infections, digestive tract disorder and dysentery. The leaves were macerated in 50% ethanol and the liquid extract concentrated to dryness. The dry extract was evaluated for antibacterial activity by using agar diffusion method. The extract was partitioned between water, ethyl acetate and butanol successively and further subjected to antibacterial testing. The most active fraction, ethyl acetate fraction, was purified through various chromatographic methods to obtain pure compounds identified by spectroscopic methods as ethylgallate and quercitrin. These compounds gave good antibacterial effects, while the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the fractions and the pure compounds ranged between 12.5 and 250 μg/ml. These phenolic compounds are reported for the first time in this plant. © 2011 Academic Journals.