College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Nefas Silk Polytechnic College, Department of Urban Agriculture, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2024 Mar 5;19(3):e0300060. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300060. eCollection 2024.
Ethiopia's healthcare system relies on traditional medicinal practices that use medicinal plants to treat human and livestock ailments. However, the lack of empirical validation regarding the efficacy of these treatments against specific infectious diseases necessitates rigorous scientific investigations. The objective of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity and phytochemical screening on five selected medicinal plant species, namely Solanum somalense Franchet., Verbascum sinaiticum Benth., Rumex nervosus Vahl, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal and Calpurnia aurea (Ait.) Benth. The plants were first identified jointly with local informants and later considering mainly their high informant consensus and fidelity level values for their efficacy in treating infectious diseases in the area. Ethanol and aqueous extracts were prepared from the plant materials, and their antibacterial activities were evaluated against standard bacterial strains, representing both gram-positive and gram-negative types. To assess the antibacterial activity of the extracts, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined using the broth dilution method. Additionally, phytochemical screening was performed using standard qualitative tests to identify various secondary metabolites. The results indicated antibacterial efficacy in the ethanol extracts of S. somalense, W. somnifera, and C. aurea against particular bacterial strains (S. somalense against S. agalactiae with MIC of 1.5 mg/mL; W. somnifera against S. aureus and E. coli, with MIC of 2 mg/mL; C. aurea against E. coli and K. pneumoniae, with MICs of 3 mg/mL and 3.5 mg/mL, respectively). The results of the phytochemical screening indicated the presence of steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and terpenoids. The selected medicinal plants demonstrated promising antibacterial activity against certain bacterial strains. The current findings support the long-standing claim of the traditional medical system of the study area for their continued use of these plants in their treatment of infectious diseases. Further investigation is required to isolate the responsible active compounds and characterize the constituents and description of their antibacterial effect for possible use in areas where these infectious diseases are major health problems.
埃塞俄比亚的医疗体系依赖于传统医学实践，使用药用植物治疗人类和牲畜的疾病。然而，由于缺乏针对这些治疗方法对特定传染病疗效的经验验证，因此需要进行严格的科学研究。本研究的目的是调查五种选定药用植物的抗菌活性和植物化学筛选，这五种植物分别为：Solanum somalense Franchet.、Verbascum sinaiticum Benth.、Rumex nervosus Vahl.、Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal 和 Calpurnia aurea (Ait.) Benth。这些植物最初是与当地知情人士共同鉴定的，后来主要考虑到他们在该地区治疗传染病方面的高共识和保真度值。从植物材料中制备了乙醇和水提取物，并评估了它们对代表革兰氏阳性和革兰氏阴性类型的标准细菌菌株的抗菌活性。为了评估提取物的抗菌活性，使用肉汤稀释法确定最小抑菌浓度（MIC）。此外，还使用标准定性测试进行了植物化学筛选，以鉴定各种次生代谢物。结果表明，S. somalense、W. somnifera 和 C. aurea 的乙醇提取物对某些细菌菌株具有抗菌功效（S. somalense 对 S. agalactiae 的 MIC 为 1.5mg/mL；W. somnifera 对 S. aureus 和 E. coli 的 MIC 为 2mg/mL；C. aurea 对 E. coli 和 K. pneumoniae 的 MIC 分别为 3mg/mL 和 3.5mg/mL）。植物化学筛选的结果表明存在甾体、生物碱、类黄酮、皂苷和萜类化合物。选定的药用植物对某些细菌菌株表现出有希望的抗菌活性。这些发现支持研究区域传统医学系统长期以来的主张，即继续使用这些植物治疗传染病。需要进一步研究以分离出负责的活性化合物，并表征其成分和描述其抗菌作用，以便在这些传染病是主要健康问题的地区使用。
