Antimicrobial activity of seed extracts of Persia amerciana against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium ulcerans, Salmonella typhi, Neisseria gonorrhoea and Candida albicans was carried out using the disc diffusion technique. The methanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts demonstrated promising activity against the test organisms. The activity of methanol extract was more pronounced against C. albicans (42mm) while that of petroleum ether extract was the least against E.coli (6mm). However, S. typhi and E. coli were resistant to chloroform and methanol extracts. The activity of the ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanol extracts compared favourably with that of standard antibiotic streptomycin (30µgdics-1). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) showed that methanol and ethyl acetate extracts had the lowest MIC value (10mg/ml) against C. albicans, indicating higher potency. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroids alkaloids and terpenoids. The spectra of antimicrobial activities displayed by the extracts could be attributed to the presence of these phytochemicals and signifies the potential of Persia amerciana as a source of therapeutic agents. This therefore, supports the traditional medicinal use of Persia amerciana and suggests that further studies should be conducted to isolate and identify the active components of the extract.

BackgroundIn our continued search for bioactive compounds from plants, conscious effort is being made to rapidly analyze ethnobotanical plants used for treating various ailments by traditional healers before this information is irrevocably lost as societies advance and rural communities become urbanized.ResultsA compound isolated from the aqueous extract of Pavetta crassipes leaves showed activity against some pathogenic microorganisms which included Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium ulcerans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli at a concentration < 50 mg/mL. The compound had minimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 6.25 to 12.5 mg/mL and minimum bactericidal concentration ranging from 12.5 to 25 mg/mL. The compound was identified using 1D and 2D NMR experiments and comparison with literature data as quercetin-3-O-rutinoside.ConclusionsThis has supported the ethnomedicinal use of the plant, confirmed its activity, and has also provided an easy and simple method for isolating this compound which has a lot of pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications from a new source.

A series of Au-Pd/TiO2 catalysts were synthesized in different weight % using sol-immobilization method. Of the range studied 1%Pd/TiO2 catalyst achieved 86.4% conversion of phenol to CO2 in a standard batch-slurry system utilizing UV. However under recycle or continuous operation Pd leaching from catalyst surface led to gradual deactivation. Au-Pd nanoparticles supported on TiO2 P25 were stable and recyclable, here Au species were found to help to anchor Pd species on TiO2, and no observable Pd leaching occurred. Utilizing UV, 1%Pd/TiO2 showed faster rate of phenol degradation in comparison to Au-Pd/TiO2, while 1%Au/TiO2 and 0.5%Au-0.5%Pd/TiO2 showed faster phenol degradation rates under visible light. The TiO2 P25 support was also found to be active, stable and recyclable in phenol degradation utilizing UV; and was hence considered suitable for continuous operation. However poor oxygen mass transfer led to the formation and lay-down of polymeric species when using a Trickle bed approach. Operation in the Taylor flow regime was demonstrated to increase oxygen saturation and significantly reduced deactivation. Hence continuous photocatalytic degradation of phenol could be achieved using TiO2 under Taylor Flow conditions.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the constituent fatty acids of some freshwater fish species as well as compare the nutritional quality of freshwater fish with that of marine fish by comparing the levels of essential fatty acids present. The fatty acids profile of freshwater fish species include minor amounts of odd-number, branched-chain, and even-number fatty acids as well as saturated components, the monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The major saturated fatty acids were C14:0 and C16:0. The C18:1 is the prominent monounsaturated fatty acids while the C18:2 is the dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids. The essential fatty acids compositions showed prominence in C18:3n-3 and C18:2n-6. The overall significance of this study had been its revelation that freshwater fish are good source of omega-6 essential fatty acids. The high percent of saturated fatty acids in freshwater fish gives them an advantage in curing processing.

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The aim of this research was to isolate and characterize bioactive substances that may be responsible for the ethno medicinal uses of Punica granatum. Phytochemical constituents and characterization led to the isolation of Beta-Sitosterol from the hexane extract of the stem bark of the plant. The structure of the isolated compound was elucidated by spectra data including FTIR, 1D-and 2D-NMR. The compound was active against Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli with zones of inhibition of 20 and 35 mm respectively which were appreciable with that of the standard. The values of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) were as low as 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml against Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli respectively.

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