J Ethnopharmacol 2000 Jul;71(1-2):307-13
Antimicrobial activity of bark extracts of Syzygium jambos (L.) alston
(Myrtaceae).
Djipa CD, Delmee M, Quetin-Leclercq J
Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, CHAM Unit, Universite Catholique de Louvain,
UCL 72.30. Av. E. Mounier 72, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.
Syzygium jambos (L.) Alston (Myrtaceae) is a widespread medicinal plant
traditionally used in sub-Saharan Africa to treat infectious diseases.
Acetone and aqueous extracts from the bark of S. jambos were tested for
antimicrobial activity in vitro by the agar dilution method in petri dishes.
Both extracts showed some activity against the tested micro-organisms.
They proved to be particularly effective on Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia
enterocolitica and coagulase negative staphylococci among which Staphylococcus
hominis, Staphylococcus cohnii and Staphylococcus warneri. These properties
seem to be related to the high tannin content of S. jambos extracts (77
and 83% for the aqueous and acetone extracts, respectively, determined
according to the European Pharmacopoeia method) which were generally more
active than Hamamelis virginiana, Krameria triandra, Alchemilla vulgaris
and Rubus fruticosus extracts containing 48, 44, 46 and 28% tannins, respectively.
Furthermore, elimination of tannins totally suppressed these antimicrobial
activities.
PMID: 10904178, UI: 20366665