Brachylaena discolor (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant used in Mozambique to treat stomachache, tuberculosis, and diabetes. To discover new lead compounds with leishmanicidal activity, a methanolic extract of the leaves of this plant was investigated. Through fractionation, employing several chromatographic methods, two sesquiterpene lactones onopordopicrin (1) and its germacronolide epoxide derivative (2), together with other ten know phenolic compounds derivatives (3-12) were isolated. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods, mainly 1D and 2D NMR experiments, as well as by comparing their spectroscopic data as reported in the literature. Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their leishmanicidal activity using the Colorimetric method-XXT. Compound 1 showed a significant leishmanicidal activity against Leishmania amazonensis and L. braziliensis (IC50 values 39.6 and 27.9 μM, respectively) as compared to miltefosine (12.5 and 12.0 μM, respectively), a currently used agent to treat leishmaniosis. While compound 2 was inactive against both stains tested with IC50 values >50μM compared with the same agent. Compounds 3-12 were not assayed for leishmanicidal activity. This is the first study reporting the above-mentioned activity of onopordopicrin (1). The results could suggest that compound 1 is a promising lead structure to treat leishmaniosis.
The present work deals with the influence of the powders, aqueous and methanolic extracts of Chenopodium album plant on survival of the Brassica oleacera moth, Plutella xylostella (Diamondback moth), as well as, the phytochemical studies of the chemical constituents present in the leaves extract of C. album. The powders tested were obtained from the roots and the leaves of the plant. The insecticidal activity was evaluated using the leaf disc immersion method. The powders of the leaves (IC 50 value 100% at 0.1 g and 0.3 g, respectively), powder of the roots (IC 50 values 77.5% at 0.1 g and 95.0% at 0.3 g), aqueous extract of the leaves (IC 50 values 50.0% at 0.1 v/v and 80.0% at 0.2 v/v), aqueous extract of the roots (IC 50 values 52.0% at 0.1 v/v and 90.0% at 0.2 v/v) and the methanolic extract of the roots (IC 50 value 72% at 0.
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