A flavone compound isolated from the stem bark of Butea frondosa: A broad spectrum bactericide especially active on Bacillus

Abstract

The Quinoline compound isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of B. Frondosa stem bark showed some significant antimicrobial activity when tested against 106 different bacterial strains belonging to 9 different genera of both Gram-positive and Gram- negative. Minimuim inhibitory concentration of the drug were measured using an agar dilution technique. Twenty four of 36 strains of Staphylococcus aureus were inhibited by 100-200 mg/l of drug. This drug also inhibited strains of Bacillus spp, Shigella spp, Salmonella spp and Pseudomonas spp at a concentration of 100-400 mg/l. Other bacteria including Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus were moderately sensitive to drug. In the in vivo studies this compound offered significant protection to swiss albino mice at a concentration of  80 µg /mouse (P<0.001) when challenged with 50 median lethal dose of Salmonella typhimurium NCTC 74