Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts of Hedyosmum Cuatrecazanum Occhioni (Chloranthaceae) from the Ecuadorian Andes
Keywords:
Hedyosmum cuatrecazanum Occhioni., antimicrobials, minimum inhibitory concentration.Abstract
Introduction: The genus Hedyosmum is part of the Chloranthaceae family and consists of 45 species, of which 44 are distributed in the mountainous Neotropics and one in Southeast Asia. In Ecuador, the genus Hedyosmum presents 16 endemic species of the high Andean cloud forest and subparamos of the south of the country.
Objective: Determine the antimicrobial activity of hexanoic and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Hedyosmum cuatrecazanum Occhioni., (Tarqui), on gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and yeasts of clinical interest to contribute to the search for alternative substances of natural origin in the development of new microbial infectious disease treatment options
Methods: The leaves of Hedyosmum cuatrecazanum Occhioni., were collected manually between April-August 2019, in the Jacarón natural forest, Chimborazo province, Ecuador. The fresh leaves were dried at 38 ºC for three days and subsequently crushed by grinding. The plant material (200gr) was placed in Erlenmeyer flasks (1000 mL), with 500 mL of hexane or ethanol. They were macerated for 72 hours at room temperature (19 °C +/- 2). Subsequently, each initial extract was filtered and subjected to rotary evaporation at 55°C. The hexane and ethanolic extracts were kept refrigerated (4 °C) and dark until their use in biological assays. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were studied using the agar diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration, starting from extracts diluted with dimethyl sulfoxide.
Results: The hexane and ethanolic extracts were active against most Gram-negative bacteria, but only against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. All the Candida strains studied showed variable susceptibility to hexane extracts but not to ethanolic extracts.
Conclusions: The results show that the hexanoic and ethanolic extracts of Hedyosmum cuatrecazanum Occhioni., present variable antimicrobial effect on strains of clinical importance.
