Abstract
The study presented in this dissertation outlines the phytochemical investigation of naturally occurring compounds from the stem bark of Musanga cecropioides R.Br. ex Tedlie (Urticaceae) and the evaluation of their anticancer and antibacterial activities. A 100 g dichloromethane- methanol (1:1, v/v) stem bark crude extract was subjected to column chromatography, yielding six known compounds, namely: friedelin (MC1), a mixture of stigmasterol and β-sitosterol (MC3), betulinic acid (MC4), oleanolic acid (MC5), and daucosterol (MC8), with aid of NMR spectroscopy and comparisons with literature data. The antibacterial activity of all the isolated compounds and the crude extract was evaluated against Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella aerogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterobacter cloacae, Proteus mirabilis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Escherichia coli with streptomycin, nalidixic acid, and ampicillin as standard antibacterial drugs. The crude extract and isolated compounds showed promising antibacterial inhibitory activity against a wide range of microorganisms. Oleanolic acid (MC5) was the most effective compound among the extracted compounds, outperforming streptomycin, nalidixic acid, and ampicillin against several bacterial strains with MIC values varying from 18.5 to 74 μg/mL. The results suggest that this plant possesses a broad spectrum of antibacterial capabilities against bacteria of both types. Furthermore, all these studies have drawn our attention to the essential categories of pharmaceuticals that can be derived from these sterols, triterpenoids, and the studied species. Future studies will focus on evaluating the cytotoxic effects of the isolated compounds and crude extracts against various cancer cell lines.