Short Communication<br><br>Antibacterial activity and isolation of active compounds from fruit of the traditional African medicinal tree <I>Kigelia africana</i>

Abstract

The fruits of Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. are a popular
source of traditional medicine throughout Africa. The stembark has been widely
analysed for pharmacological activity, yet knowledge of the fruits is limited,
despite more extensive use in traditional remedies. Crude extracts of stembark
and fruits were prepared with distilled water, ethanol or ethyl acetate. In
the microtitre plate bioassay, stembark and fruit extracts showed similar antibacterial
activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. A mixture of three
fatty acids exhibiting antibacterial effects was isolated from the ethyl acetate
extract of the fruits using bioassay-guided fractionation. Palmitic acid, already
known to possess antibacterial activity, was the major compound in this mixture.
These results confirm antibacterial activity of K. africana fruits and
stembark, and support the traditional use of the plant in therapy of bacterial
infections.

South African Journal of Botany 2002, 68: 220—222