A bioactive flavonoid from Pavetta crassipes K. Schum.

Background: In our continued search for bioactive compounds from plants, conscious effort is being made to rapidly analyze ethnobotanical plants used for treating various ailments by traditional healers before this information is irrevocably lost as societies advance and rural communities become urbanized.

Results: A compound isolated from the aqueous extract of Pavetta crassipes leaves showed activity against some pathogenic microorganisms which included Streptococcus pyogenes, Corynebacterium ulcerans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli at a concentration < 50 mg/mL. The compound had minimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 6.25 to 12.5 mg/mL and minimum bactericidal concentration ranging from 12.5 to 25 mg/mL. The compound was identified using 1D and 2D NMR experiments and comparison with literature data as quercetin-3-O-rutinoside.

Conclusions: This has supported the ethnomedicinal use of the plant, confirmed its activity, and has also provided an easy and simple method for isolating this compound which has a lot of pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications from a new source.