ABSTRACT
Endophytes, a potential source of bioactive secondary metabolites, were isolated from the widely used medicinal plant Calotropis procera Ait. Approximately 675 segments from 15 Calotropis procera plants and 15 latex samples were assessed for the presence of endophytic fungi. Finally, eight fungal species were isolated and identified based on their macro- and micro-morphology. The endophytic fungal filtrates were screened for their antimicrobial activity against 11 important pathogenic micro-organisms. The filtrates of nanoparticles were from three of the eight isolated endophytic fungi, namely, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus, and were highly effective against the tested bacteria, while the remaining endophytic fungal filtrates displayed low activity.
Subject(s)
Anti-Bacterial Agents/biosynthesis , Calotropis/microbiology , Endophytes/isolation & purification , Fungi/isolation & purification , Nanoparticles/microbiology , Aspergillus flavus/isolation & purification , Aspergillus flavus/metabolism , Aspergillus fumigatus/isolation & purification , Aspergillus fumigatus/metabolism , Endophytes/classification , Fungi/classification , Microbial Sensitivity Tests/methods , Penicillium chrysogenum/isolation & purification , Penicillium chrysogenum/metabolismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To isolate and identify chemical constituents with antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects of the ethanolic extract of Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) leaves. METHODS: The alcoholic extract was subjected to successive solvent fractionation. The antioxidant active fractions (chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions) were subjected to a combination of different chromatographic techniques guided by the antioxidant assay with DPPH. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic evidences and correlated with known compounds. The antioxidant activity was assessed quantitively using DPPH and ß-carotene methods. The inhibitory potential against enzyme lipoxygenase was assessed on soybean lipoxygenase enzyme. RESULTS: Ten flavonoids and four lignans were isolated. Flavonoid aglycones showed stronger antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects than their glycosides. Lignoid glycosides showed moderate to weak antioxidant and lipoxygenase inhibitory effects. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 14 compounds were isolated and identified from Simmondsia chinensis; 12 of them were isolated for the first time. This is the first report that highlights deeply on the phenolic content of jojoba and their potential biological activities and shows the importance of this plant as a good source of phenolics in particular the flavonoid content.
