Antibacterial activity of Costus pulverulentus (Costaceae) C. Presl

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a great concern in public health. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain new compounds to treat diseases caused by bacteria. Medicinal plants are an alternative to search natural compounds to improve human health, including antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobials compounds. Costus pulverulentus (Costaceae) C. Presl is a plant used traditionally in Huasteca Potosina to treat bacterial infections. However, the compounds involved in this activity remain poorly understood. To determine the antibacterial activity of C. pulverulentus, an ethanolic extract was obtained. Plant stem was macerated in ethanol and then was fractionated with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, and methanol. Ethanolic extract and derived fractions were tested against bacteria by the disk-diffusion agar method. The results showed that the ethanolic extract of C. pulverulentus exerted activity against Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 and Bacillus sp. at 10 and 30 μg/disk, whereas only the methanolic fraction showed similar activity to complete extract. Fraction 8 obtained from methanolic fraction showed inhibitory activity against Bacillus sp., S. aureus, and S. aureus Oxacillin resistant. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry characterization of active fraction 8 showed that it contains vanillic acid and pcoumaric acid suggesting that they are involved in the antibacterial activity of C. pulverulentus.