Endophytes possess several phytohormones and bioactive metabolites of medicinal importance and thus, continue to generate research interest as candidates in drug discovery programmes. This study was carried out to investigate the secondary metabolites of an endophytic fungus isolated from leaves of Psidium guajava. Endophytic fungal isolation, fungal fermentation; and extraction of secondary metabolites in ethyl acetate were carried out using standard methods. The crude extract was subjected to Vacuum Liquid Chromatography (VLC) using binary combinations of Hexane:Ethyl acetate and Dichloromethane:Methanol to obtain fourteen sub-fractions designated PG55-1 to PG55-14. The fungal crude extracts and VLC sub-fractions were screened for antimicrobial activity and were also subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography-diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) analysis for the identification of bioactive compounds. An endophytic fungus, PG55 was isolated from the leaf of Psidium guajava. The fungal secondary metabolites showed antibacterial properties, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 0.0625 – 1 mg/ml. No antifungal activity was observed. HPLC-DAD analysis of the extract suggested the presence p-hydroxybenzoic acid, pentenedioic acid and palitantin in one of the fractions of PG55. Some of these compounds are known antimicrobial agents and may be responsible for the antimicrobial activities recorded for the fungal extracts. The results of this study, suggests the many potentials possessed by Nigerian plants as hosts of endophytes that could be reservoirs for excellent sources of pharmacologically active compounds.
Medicinal plants have been identified and used throughout human history for its different activities. This study was carried out to screen the aqueous, butanol, ethyl acetate, methanol and n-hexane fractions of the leaves of Anthocleista djalonensis for anti-helminthic activity across various concentrations (10–50 mg/ml) of the crude extract and 10 mg/ml of the different fractions. Albendazole (10 mg/ml) was used as reference standard drug while 20% Tween 80 was used as control. Determination of paralysis time and death times of the worms were recorded. In vitro treatment of the parasite with the highest dose of crude extract (50 mg/ml) resulted in paralysis and death at 20 min and 110 min respectively. Butanol showed greatest anti-helminthic activity even higher than that of the reference drug with paralysis and death times of 13 min and 51 min respectively. The order of sensitivity of the fractions to the worms was butanol > n-hexane > ethyl acetate > aqueous. The overall finding of this study demonstrates that the leaves possess anthelminthic compounds and should be further evaluated as a remedy to various disease conditions associated with worm infestation.
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