Guttiferone BL with antibacterial activity from the fruits of Allanblackia gabonensis

Abstract

Allanblackia genus, an endless source of bioactive compounds, was investigated for its antibacterial properties. The chemical study of the methanol extract from the fruits of Allanblackia gabonensis resulted in the isolation of the undescribed guttiferone BL (1) along with the known kaempferol (2), morelloflavone (3), morelloflavone 7″-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), β-sitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and β-sitosterol. Their structures were determined using spectrometry and spectroscopic techniques. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against five Gram-negative and two Gram-positive strains using a broth micro-dilution method. Compounds displayed low to significant activity against the tested bacterial strains with MICs ranging from 8 to 512 μg/mL. Morelloflavone (3) presented significant activity against E. coli ATCC8739 (MIC = 8 μg/mL) while guttiferone BL (1) exhibited low activity (MICs = 256–512 μg/mL) against all the tested strains. The crude extract also had moderate to significant activity against the tested bacterial strains.

Keywords:

• Allanblackia gabonensis
• antibacterial activity
• Clusiaceae
• guttiferone BL

Acknowledgements

IC would like to thank the Scientific Research Projects Commission of Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey for the funding grant (1306F110). Authors are thankful to the Cameroon National Herbarium for the plant identification.