Two New Triterpenoids from the Leaf of Ficus vogelii and Their Antibacterial Activities

• Published in: Chemistry Africa Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 63 - 70
• Main Authors: Ayodele, Olatunde Adekunle, Awotuya, Iyanu Oluwafemi, Taiwo, Bamigboye Josiah, Osungunna, Oluwole Michael, Vuyisa, Mzozoyana, Kasim, Saka Lateef
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2024
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Inorganic Chemistry; Organometallic Chemistry; Original Article; Antimicrobial; Minimum bactericidal concentration; Minimum inhibitory concentration
• ISSN: 2522-5758; 2522-5766
• DOI: 10.1007/s42250-023-00743-y

Microbial infection remains a major health concern in the world. Various approaches are still being deployed in combating them including the traditional use of medicinal plants. Ficus vogelii is a medicinal plant which is being used locally in the treatment of infections and various life-threatening diseases. This study was designed to validate the antimicrobial potential of F. vogelii morphological parts, isolate the chemical compounds from the most active plant extract and carry out in silico and in vitro antimicrobial studies of the isolated compounds. Morphological parts of F. vogelii; root, stem bark, leaf and fruits were extracted to obtain their corresponding extracts. The extracts were assayed for their antimicrobial activity using broth microdilution method. The antimicrobial studies revealed that the leaf extract is the most active plant part and was thereafter purified using column chromatography and size exclusion chromatography to obtain compounds 1 and 2 , which was characterized using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and Infra-red spectroscopy. The isolated compounds were triterpenes; 19-(2-Methylprop-1-enyl)-4,4,10,15,17,17,14b-hexamethylicosahydrobenzo[k]tetraphen-3(2H)-one (1, Vogelinone) and 19-(2-Methylprop-1-enyl)-4,4,10,15,17,17,14b-hexamethylicosahydrobenzo[k]tetraphen-3-ol (2, Vogelinol). The in vitro antimicrobial studies showed that 2 inhibited the growth of the E. coli, S. aureus, B. subtilis and P. aerugenosa on comparison with 1. Compound 2 exhibited excellent inhibitory property against Gram negative B. subtilis and P. aerugenosa with MIC value of 0.0039 and 0.0078 mg mL −1 respectively. Molecular docking studies further confirmed that 2 elicited the best binding energy of − 7.4 kcal mol −1 when docked with S. aureus enzyme as compared with 1 (− 7.2 kcal mol −1 ) and the standard drug Streptomycin (− 5.2 kcal mol −1 ). The study therefore justified the usage of F. vogelii in the treatment of microbial infections and also provides the needed scientific information for exploitation of the identified compounds in drug discovery and drug development.