Isolation, derivatization, and anti-microbial evaluation of secondary metabolites from Garcinia dryobalanoides.

A detailed study on secondary metabolites from the stem bark of Garcinia dryobalanoides has yielded one triterpenoid and four xanthones. Along with that, five novel rubraxanthone derivatives had been successfully synthesised via Williamson etherification with various alkyl halides. The antibacterial evaluation on crude extract, isolated secondary metabolites (1-5), and synthesised compounds (6-9) against Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia marcescens demonstrated moderate to active activities outlining their bacteriostatic potential. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) study conducted revealed the presence of prenyl and hydroxy groups on the xanthone attributed to good bacterial inhibition. The introduction of the alkyl chain to the hydroxy part eventually decreases the antibacterial activity of the compound which is probably due to the bulkiness that causes steric hindrances, therefore limiting the ability to bind to its target site within the bacterial cell.

Soulaxanthone, a new xanthone derivative from Calophyllum soulattri.

In search for new metabolites from the stem bark of Calophyllum soulattri and Calophyllum gracilentum, led to the isolation of a new xanthone, soulaxanthone (1), along with four other known metabolites, euxanthone (2), calopolyanolide E (3), calanolide E (4) and friedelin (5). The structures of these compounds were identified and elucidated using spectroscopic techniques such as 1H NMR,13C NMR, COSY, DEPT, HSQC, HMBC, MS and FTIR. The antibacterial activities of compounds 1-5, as well as the extracts, were tested against five bacterial strains. Soulaxanthone (1) exhibited moderate activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa with an MIC value of 25 µg/mL. Hexane (non-polar) extract from both plants exhibited moderate activity against Enterobacter cloacae (MIC = 250 µg/mL). Calopolyanolide E (3) and friedelin (5) showed bactericidal activity against Enterobacter cloacae (MBC = 50 µg/mL), thus the compounds have the potential to serve as a new lead for developing effective antibacterial medication.