title: Traditional herbal drugs of southern Uganda. Part III: isolation and methods for physical characterization of bioactive alkanols from Rubus apetalus.
abstract: The East African plant Rubus apetalus Poir. was collected as a component of an ethnobotanical survey in southern Uganda. No phytochemical investigations of this plant have been found in the literature. Preliminary antimicrobial susceptibility tests performed in Uganda indicated biological activity against several bacterial and one fungal human pathogen. Bulk re-collection of Rubus apetalus was accomplished and crude extraction performed in preparation for further testing. Two chemical fractions of the crude extract were active in the antimicrobial susceptibility assay. Fractionation of one of the active crude fractions led to the isolation and elucidation of a mixture of related compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC=62 microg/ml), Streptococcus faecalis (16 microg/ml) and Candida albicans (32 microg/ml).
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology and Immunology, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, P.O. Box 760549, San Antonio, TX 78245-0549, USA. ahamill@sfbr.org
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Hamill
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Apio
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Mubiru
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mosango
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bukenya-Ziraba
authors.forename: O W
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Maganyi
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Soejarto
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry; D027824:Rosaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D014454:Uganda
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000935:Antifungal Agents