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Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Volume 97, Issue 2, 28 February 2005, Pages 293-299

Antibacterial activity of crude extracts from Mexican

medicinal plants and purified coumarins and xanthones
Kakuko Yasunaka a , Fumiko Abe b, Ariaki Nagayama a, Hikaru Okabe b, Lucio Lozada-Pérez c,
Edith López-Villafranco d, Elizabeth Estrada Muñiz e, Abigail Aguilar f, Ricardo Reyes-Chilpa e

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2004.11.014 ↗ Get rights and content ↗

Abstract

Thirty-two extracts from 22 Mexican medicinal plants of 15 different families were assayed to determine

their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Seventeen plants showed
antibacterial activity, while five plants showed no activity against both bacteria. All of the extracts showed

higher activity against Staphylococcus aureus (methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant) than against
Escherichia coli, except one. Among the plants examined, Bursera simaruba (L.) Sarg. (Burseraceae),
Haematoxylum brasiletto H. Karst. (Fabaceae), Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess. (Clusiaceae), and Mammea
americana L. (Clusiaceae) were highly active against Staphylococcus aureus. Coumarins (mammea A/BA and
mammea A/AA) and xanthones, namely jacareubin and 1,3,5,6-tetrahydroxy-2-(3,3-dimethylallyl)

xanthone, were isolated as the principle compounds from the last two plants.

Introduction

Many plants or their components are used as folk medicines in many parts of the world to cure various

infectious diseases such as urinary tract infections, bronchitis, diarrhea, cutaneous abscesses and parasitic

diseases. On the other hand, antibiotics have dramatically reduced the incidence of many infectious

diseases. Nevertheless, many problems remain unresolved due to occasional serious side effects and the

appearance of antibiotic-resistant mutant bacteria. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), for

example, is one of the main species of bacteria that cause nosocomial infections in hospitals worldwide

(Ichiyama et al., 1991, Yasunaka and Kono, 1999, Takeda et al., 2000). In recent years, the emergence of MRSA

has become a serious problem because of its resistance against numerous antibiotics. Although many

studies on antimicrobial activity of medicinal plants have been made over the past 30 years (Khan et al.,

1980, Samy et al., 1998, Essawi and Srour, 2000), a large number of plants still have not been studied. In this

context, we examined the antibacterial properties of medicinal plants from Mexico.

It has been estimated that nearly 3103 higher plant species are used in Mexican traditional medicine, of

which nearly one-third (1024) are used to treat diseases of the digestive tract (Argueta-Villamar et al.,

1994). The survey by the IMSSM herbarium also indicates that Mexican medicinal plants are used primarily

to treat digestive (473 species), respiratory (247 species) and skin (277 species) diseases (Aguilar et al.,

1994).

In the present paper, we describe the results of the study on antibacterial activity of crude extracts of 22

Mexican medicinal plants against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus.
These plants are used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of diseases presumably caused by

bacteria. We also examined the effects of pure compounds (two coumarins, three xanthones, and a

triterpene) isolated from the active plants.

Section snippets

Plant materials

Plant materials were collected during the period between 2000 and 2003 in Cuetzalán del Progreso in the

State of Puebla, and in several localities of the State of Veracruz. Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess.
(Clusiaceae) was collected in Santa Marta and Los Tuxtlas of the State of Veracruz. Plant materials were also

purchased at “Sonora Medicinal Plant Market” in Mexico City, or from surplus herbarium specimens.

Taxonomic identification was performed and confirmed by three of us (A. Aguilar, E.…

Antibacterial activity of plant extracts against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus
To evaluate the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli C600 and Staphylococcus aureus 209P, the MIC of
each plant extract was assayed and the results shown in Table 2. Nine extracts out of 32 showed moderate

activity, while 23 extracts did not show any antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli C600. On the other
hand, many extracts examined were active against Staphylococcus aureus 209P (15 extracts, high; 11
extracts, moderate). Both acetone extract from the leaves of …

Discussion and conclusions

Twenty-two plants studied here are used in Mexican traditional medicine against illness such as fever,

diarrhea, malaria, dysentery, sores, and venereal diseases presumably caused mainly by bacteria or

microorganisms. Of the 22 medicinal plants assayed, seven species showed high activity

againstStaphylococcus aureus and nine moderate. Only six plants showed moderate activity against

Escherichia coli. Bursera simaruba, Haematoxylon brasiletto, Calophyllum brasiliense, and Mammea americana
showed …

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Laura Cortés Zárraga for her assistance in collecting ethnobotanical data. We

would like to thank Dr. H. Akahane of Fukuoka University for his encouragement in carrying out this study.

This work was supported in part by a grant (no. 001001) from the Central Research Institute of Fukuoka

University: 2000–2001.…

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