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Biological activities of an extract from Cleome viscosa L. (Capparaceae)

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Abstract

Electron micrograph examination of the leaf and stem surfaces of Cleome viscosa L (Family Capparaceae) revealed the presence of secretory glandular trichomes with club-cylinder and cylinder morphologies. In the present study, the leaves and stems of C. viscosa were extracted with hexane and the extract was evaluated for the following biological activities: anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, contact insecticidal and nematicidal. The extract was found to be a potent anti-bacterial agent according to the thin layer chromatography autobiographic assay. Activity-directed isolation studies of the anti-bacterially active compounds led to a 14-member ring cembranoid diterpene being identified as one of the effective agents. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values (µg/spot) of 5.0 µg/spot and 1.0 µg/spot were found for the diterpene on Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (Gram-negative), respectively. The diterpene did not inhibit the growth of the fungus Cladosporium cucumerinum. The extract demonstrated a pyrethroid type of contact insecticidal activity on adult Cylas formicarius elegantulus Summer (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The extract also had high nematicidal activity with a percentage Abbott's value of 72.69 on the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita Chitwood; however, the extract lost its potency upon subfractionation.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Bonn, Germany) for a Forschungsstipendium to L.A.D.W., and the University of Hohenheim Institute for Bio-organic Chemistry, Stuttgart, Germany, where part of this study was conducted.

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  1. E. Vasques

    Present address: Philippine Root Crop Research, Visayas State Colleage of Agriculture, 6521-A, Baybay, Leyte, The Philippines

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Bio-organic Chemistry, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 30, 70593, Stuttgart, Germany

    L.A.D. Williams, E. Vasques & W. Kraus

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, 7, Kingston, Jamaica

    R. Porter

  3. Electron Microscopy Unit, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, 7, Kingston, Jamaica

    W. Reid

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  1. L.A.D. Williams
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Correspondence to L.A.D. Williams.

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Williams, L., Vasques, E., Reid, W. et al. Biological activities of an extract from Cleome viscosa L. (Capparaceae). Naturwissenschaften 90, 468–472 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0460-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0460-1

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