Biological and phytochemical characterization of Phragmanthera regularis (Loranthaceae) from Ethiopia

Abstract

Phragmanthera regularis is a hemi-parasitic shrub. It is known for treating various health ailments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity, toxicity, and chemical characterization of the leaf extracts of P regularis collected from the Schinus molle host plant in Ethiopia. The antimicrobial properties of crude extracts obtained with chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water solvents were assayed against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The methanol extract significantly inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa were resistant to any of these solvent extracts. The methanol extract was tested at 175, 550, and 2000 mg/kg body weight doses in white mice and did not reveal any toxicity. The LC-MS qTOF analysis detected flavonoids, phenolic acids, and alkaloids in the crude methanol extract. Further study is needed to investigate the effectiveness of these compounds against S. aureus.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Phragmanthera regularis
• Loranthaceae
• antibacterial activity
• acute oral toxicity
• metabolites
• LC-MS
• Ethiopia

Acknowledgments

We thank Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the EPHI for providing technical support and bacterial strains. AY is grateful to Marlies Spohn, Helmut Spohn and his colleagues at Ethiopian Forest Development, Central Ethiopia Center and AAU for their unreserved assistance and encouragement. We also thank the editor of the Journal and the two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions for the improvement of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, AY, upon reasonable request.