Elsevier

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 115, Issue 3, 12 February 2008, Pages 494-501
Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Antitumor, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of Bersama engleriana (Melianthaceae)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.10.027Get rights and content

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antitumor, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as well as the phytochemical composition and the acute toxicity of the methanolic extracts from the roots (BER), stem bark (BEB), leaves (BEL) and wood (BEW) of Bersama engleriana. The crown gall tumor and DPPH radical scavenging assays were used to detect respectively the antitumoral and oxidant activities. Agar diffusion and liquid dilution were used for antimicrobial tests and the phytochemical assays were conducted according to Harbone methods. The single-dose oral toxicity test was performed in accordance with the OPPTS 870.1100 and OECD 401guidelines. The phytochemical tests indicated the presence of flavonoids, phenols, triterpenes and anthraquinones in all extracts. Pronounced tumor reducing activity was observed with the extracts from the roots (69.32%) and leaves (65.42%). The DPPHradical dot scavenging activity showed that the extract from the leaves was the most active with 93.71% inhibition rate at the 1000 μg/ml. The results of antimicrobial activity showed that all tested extracts were active against all tested microbial species, including Gram-positive, and negative bacteria, the two Candida species and mycobacteria. The MIC values obtained ranged from 9.76 to 156.25 μg/ml. Under the conditions of the studied toxicity, all extracts were found to be non-toxic. The overall results of this study indicates that the extracts from the roots, stem bark, leaves and wood have interesting antioxidant properties and represent a potential source of medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer.

Introduction

Bersama engleriana Gurke (Melianthaceae) is a tree occurring in forests and forest margins of tropical and subtropical Africa. This plant as well as many plants of the genus Bersama is traditionally used in the treatment of cancer, spasms, infectious diseases, male infertility and diabetes (Kupchan et al., 1971, Bowen et al., 1985, Makonnen and Hagos, 1993, Iwu, 1993). The hypoglycemic activity as well as the sexual stimulant effects of the extract from the leaves of this plant was previously reported on rats (Njike et al., 2005, Watcho et al., 2007). In the present study, we report the antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial activities as well as the acute toxicity of the methanolic extracts of the roots, stem bark, leaves and wood of Bersama engleriana.

Section snippets

Plant material and extraction

Different parts of Bersama engleriana Gurke (roots, stem bark, leaves and wood) were collected from Bafou, West province of Cameroon in January 2007. The botanical identification of the plants was done at the Cameroon National Herbarium, where the voucher specimen was conserved under the reference number 24725/HNC.

These plant materials were air-dried at room temperature and powdered. Then 500 g of each powder were macerated in methanol (2.5 l) at room temperature for 48 h. The filtrate was then

Results and discussions

The results of the phytochemical studies showed that all the tested extracts contain flavonoids, phenols, triterpenes and anthraquinones. Saponins were present in BER, BEB and BEL while none of the tested extracts contained alkaloids. The isolation of triterpenes and saponins from the stem bark of Bersama engleriana was previously reported by Tapondjou et al. (2006), and the results of this investigation is in accordance with their study.

In the antitumor experiment, it appeared from the results

Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge the technical support of the Institut Appert (Paris, France), the A.F.R.C. Reading Laboratory (Great Britain), the ‘Centre Pasteur du Cameroun’, the National Herbarium of Cameroon and that of Mme Brenda Mapunya of the University of Pretoria. Dr. Victor Kuete is very grateful to the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS) for its financial support through the 2007 training program, and also to the Department of Plant Science, University of Pretoria (South Africa) for its

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