Biological Activities of Crude saponin Isolates from Two Rhipsalis species

VATOFF, ANDREA MARIBEL; TORRES, CAROLA ANALÍA

Congreso; 6º Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacèuticas (RICIFA); 2021

Abstract: Rhipsalis baccifera and R. lumbricoides are epiphytic cacti used medicinally by natives ofthe Chaco. Both species showed the presence of saponins in previous studies. This work aimed toevaluate the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity of a saponin-rich fraction of both species. The fractions were obtained by liquid-liquid extraction using chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol and reduced to dryness. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by the inhibitory effect onlipoxygenase activity at 234 nm. The results were expressed as IC50 values in µg/ml of reaction.Antibacterial activity was determined by microdilution in broth. The following strains were used:Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, Escherichia coli ATCC35218, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, three clinical isolates of S. aureus and three of E. coli. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined. Both fractions showed inhibitory effects against the lipoxygenase enzyme. The IC50 for the R. baccifera fraction was 79.5 µg/mL, while for R. lumbricoides it was 343 µg/mL. MIC values ranged from 0.75 to 6 mg/mL. The R. lumbricoides fraction was active against all bacteria tested. These results are promising and partially confirm the popular uses attributed to these species.