Short report

Ethnobotanical Leaflets 12: 912-15. 2008.

Antimicrobial Studies of Triterpenoid Fractions from Myxopyrum smilacifolium Blume

Sudharmini, D.* and Ashalatha S. Nair

Department of Botany, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Thiruvananthapuram, 695581, Kerala, India

Issued 30 October 2008

Abstract

Triterpenoids isolated from Myxopyrum smilacifolium leaf showed presence of ursolic acid (0.175mg/g). The triterpenoids showed antimicrobial activity in gram positive bacteria and Candida sps.

Keywords: Myxopyrum smilacifolium,Ursolic acid, HPLC, Antimicrobial activity.

1. Plant

Myxopyrum smilacifolium (Oleaceae) is an important medicinal plant widely used in indigenous system of medicine in India. It is a climbing shrub with small yellow flowers commonly known as ‘chathuramulla’. A voucher specimen is deposited in the Herbarium of the Department of Botany, University of Kerala (No.KUBOT-2837).

2. Use in traditional medicine

The leaves are useful in vitiated conditions of kapha and vata, cough, asthma, rheumatism, cephalalgia, nostalgia, fever, otopathy, neuropathy and cuts and wounds. Roots are useful in scabies and prurigo in children [1]

3. Previously isolated classes of constituent

Iridoid glucosides, namely myxopyroside [2].

4. New constituents

Isolation of triterpenoid fractions by silica gel thin layer chromatography using the mobile phase petroleum: dichloroethylene: acetic acid (50:50:0.7) [3]., HPLC analysis of ursolic acid and antimicrobial activity by using filter paper disc diffusion method [4, 5].

5. Used materials

Ursolic acid standard was collected from Sigma, Aldrich, London and all microorganisms were obtained from Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC), Chandigarh, India.

6. Results

Reported in figure1 and 2, and Table1.

7. Conclusions

Ursolic acid is found in the leaves of Myxopyrum smilacifolium. All the tripterpenoids from the plant showed antimicrobial activity against the gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans and C. glabrata. The antifungal activity was similar to the chemical fungicide.

Acknowledgements

The first author is thankful to University Grant Commission (UGC), Government of India, New Delhi for financial assistance as Teacher fellowship. The help provided by Dr. N. S. Pradeep, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram is also greatly acknowledged.

References

[1] Varier P S, Indian medical plants: a compendium of 500 species, vol.4. Madras: Orient Longman Limited; 1995.p.98.

[2] Franzyk H, Jensen S R, Olsen C E. J Nat Prod 2001; 64:632-633.

[3] Harborne J B. Phytochemical Methods: A guide to modern technique of plant analysis. 3^rd ed. London: Chapman and Hall, 1998.P.134.

[4] Liu C H., Liu Y. China journal of Chinese materia medica 2002; 27(12):916-918.

[5] Benson H J. Microbiological applications. 5^th ed. USA: C. Brown Publ:1990.P.134.

Table 1. Antimicrobial activities of isolated triterpenopid fractions of

Myxopyrum smilacifolium.

Microorganisms		TTR * 10(µg / disc)						Streptomycin / Fluconazole 2(µg / disc)
		Fr1	Fr2		Fr3	Fr4	Fr5
		Zone of inhibition (mm)^a
Escherichia coli Klebsiella pneumonia Proteus vulgaris Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas Fluorescens Salmonella tuphi Serratia marcescens Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus aureus Bacillus subtilis Candida albicans Candida albicans Candida albicans Candida glabrata	MTCC443 MTCC109 MTCC 426 MTCC741 MTCC 103 MTCC 733 MTCC 97 MTCC 96 MTCC2940 MTCC443 MTCC227 MTCC 3017 MTCC3019 MTCC1637	7 - - 6.5 - 6.5 - 7.5 8.5 - 7 8 - 7		6.5 - - - - 6.5 8 - 6.5 7 - 6.5 8 6.5	- - - - - - - 7 6.5 7 7.5 7 8 7.5	7.5 7 - - - 8 - 7.5 7.5 6.5 7 6.5 7.5 -	7 7 - - - 7.5 7 6.5 6.5 6.5 7 7 - -	24 18 20 20 19 20 22 22 21 15 8 12 11 8.5

Values are the mean of three replicates. TTR*- Triterpenoid

^a Including the diameter of the filter paper disk (6mm).

Fig 1. Ursolic acid HPLC profile at 205nm.

Fig 2. Myxopyrum smilacifolium fraction (hRf 20) HPLC profile.

Microorganisms