ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL COMPOUNDS FROM MACARANGA PELTATA AGAINST CLINICAL ISOLATES OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
Staphylococcus aureus is a major pathogen in nosocomial and community acquired infections as a chief cause of wound suppuration and it is always relevant when encountered in clinical specimens. Therefore new drugs, especially from natural products should be identified to solve these problems. In this study, an attempt was made to identify some potent antimicrobial compounds form Macaranga peltata that can be developed for therapeutic use. The study used methanol, ethanol, water and ether as solvents for extraction. Among this methanol extract showed significant antibacterial activity against all the four test organisms in the order Staphylococcus aureus > Proteus vulgaris > Proteus mirabilis > Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While considering the overall antimicrobial effectiveness of solvents, methanol is most efficient followed by ethanol and ether. The MBC value of methanol extract of M. peltata (1.28 mg/ml) was lower when compared with the standard antibiotics Amoxycillin (2.048 mg/ml) and Cefotaxime (12.8 mg/ml).Primary phytochemical screening showed that the methanolic extract contain high concentrations of carbohydrates, tannins and saponins, moderate amount of flavanoids, alkaloids and sterols. Quantity of glycosides & amino acid is very less. Column chromatography followed by TLC and bioautography were performed to isolate active compounds responsible for antibacterial activity against S.aureus and was analyzed by LC-MS. This analysis revealed the possible presence of bioactive compounds such as; shikimic acid, musennin, rhamnetin, lupeol acetate, corilagin and quercetrin. This work supports the idea that extracts of this plant and identified phytochemical compounds can be of value in the treatment of staphylococcal infections