Haruna, A. K. & Mohammed, I. (2014). Antibacterial activity-guided isolation of di- (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from the acetone-soluble portion of the ripe fruits of Nauclea latifolia

Abstract

Traditionally, the fruits of Nauclea latifolia (family Rubiaceae) are recommended for the treatment of diarrhea, dysentry and other bacterial infections. This therefore, prompted the phytochemical and in-vitro antibacterial assessment of the acetone-soluble portion of the plant. Crude extract, fractionation, sub-fraction, further purifications and various antibacterial testing gave rise to the isolation of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) for the first time from the plant. The structure of the compound was elucidated using physical, chemical, literature search and spectroscopic identification (IR, UV, 1H-NMR, 13-NMR, GC-MS and DEPT-135). Although, DEHP is regarded as an environmental pollutants, it displayed moderate inhibitory activity at 100 ug/ml against Gram positive organisms, similar to that exhibited by tetracycline at 1 mg/ml against the test organisms. this shows that DEHP, most likely may not be too useful in the treatment of diarrhea and dysentry caused by Gram negative Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aerugia and Salimonella typhi, but may be useful in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery and other bacterial infections caused by Gram positive Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Though, the toxicity of DEHP still needs to be ascertained viz-a-viz its antibacterial effect