Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Chemistry
Committee Chair
William N. Setzer
Committee Member
Robert L. McFeeters
Committee Member
Bernhard Vogler
Subject(s)
Leishmaniasis, Protozoan diseases, Plants--Analysis
Abstract
Phytochemical analysis of three antileishmanial plants from Monteverde, Costa Rica and Abaco Island, Bahamas, has been carried out by use of column chromatography for phytoseparation, and NMR and IR spectroscopy for structural elucidation. Ruyschia phylladenia contained betulinic acid as major component, with significant amount of lupeol. Eugenia monteverdensis contained beta-Sitosterol, betulinic acid and barbinervic acid. Tabebuia bahamensis contained large amount of ursolic acid. Betulinic acid inhibited promastigotes of L. amazonensis significantly but was also toxic to mouse macrophages. Lupeol and betulinic acid did not show antimicrobial activity while beta-Sitosterol inhibited Aspergillus niger strongly. Barbinervic acid expressed good inhibition of Bacillus cereus. Ursolic acid was very active against MCF-7 cancer cells and inhibited Staphylococcus aureus significantly. R. phylladenia and T. bahamensis stand out as major sources of medicinally important compounds betulinic acid and ursolic acid respectively.
Recommended Citation
Shrestha, Samon, "Phytochemical analysis of antileishmanial plants : a drug discovery approach" (2015). Theses. 120.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/120