Abstract

MANZANO SANTANA, Patricia et al. Isolation and characterization of hexane fraction from Vernonanthura patens (Kunth) H. Rob leaves with antifungal action. Rev Cubana Farm [online]. 2012, vol.46, n.3, pp.352-358. ISSN 0034-7515.

Introduction: the Ecuadorian folk medicine uses the coction from Vernonanthura pathens (Rob H. Kunth) leaves to treat, malaria, pain before and after childbirth, stomachache, skin rashes, diarrheas and parasitism. Objectives: to examine the presence of antifungal activity in fractions obtained from a methanol extract from V. patens leaves. Methods: the methanol extract from the leaves was fractionated by column chromatography using the following solvent systems: hexane, hexane/ethyl acetate, ethyl acetate and ethyl acetate/methanol. Antifungal activity was measured by the agar diffusion technique with PDA medium in 5 mm wells, by adding 20 µL fractions at concentrations of 100 and 200 µg/mL dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide. The active fraction was analyzed for structural identification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: of the fractions obtained, only the 100% hexane fraction showed antifungal activity, since its inhibitory percentages were 57.6 and 80.2 % against Penicillium notatum and 64.8 and 81.5 % vs. Fusaryum oxysporum on the fifteenth day of incubation. The structures of 29 compounds were suggested to be the constituents of the hexane fraction, most of them hydrocarbons. Conclusions: the presence of antifungal activity in the 100 % hexane fraction was proved, which can extend the medicinal uses of the studied plant and to enrich the Ecuadorian folk medicine.

Keywords : Vernonanthura patens; laritaco; Penicillium notatum; Fusarium oxysporum; antifungal.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )