Background: Massularia acuminata
is a small tree or shrub of tropical rainforest. The leaves are used in Nigerian ethno-medicine for the
treatment of microbial infections and pharmacological report suggested the leaf extract as possessing antioxidant activity. This study was
therefore carried out to determine the most antioxidant and antimicrobial active fraction(s) of
Massularia acuminata leaf and the constituent(s)
responsible for the activities.
Matherials and Methods: The leaf of
Massularia acuminata was investigated for
in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, using a 2,2-
diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and agar dilution method respectively.
Results: The ethyl acetate fraction demonstrated the best activities among the partitioned fractions tested. Bioassay guided purification of the
most active ethyl acetate fraction led to isolation of a new thiophenolic glycoside, characterized as 4-(3´,3´-dihydroxy-1-mercaptopropyl)phenyl
glycosylpyranoside.
Conclusion: The isolated compound from the leaf of
Massularia acuminata demonstrated antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and may be
responsible for the activities of leaf extract and its ethyl acetate fraction, hence this may justify its ethnomedicinal use.
