Abstract:
Increase in prevalence of resistant microorganisms especially to synthetic drugs, has necessitated the
need to search for new bioactive compounds having natural origin. Phytochemical investigation of Olea
africana extracts afforded two triterpenoids namely erythrodiol and uvaol which were obtained through
repeated column chromatography. The compounds were characterized using Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and by comparison with literature values. The isolated triterpenoids
exhibited moderate antibacterial activity whereas crude extracts exhibited relatively high antibacterial
activity against Gram positive bacterial strains; methanol showed 12.4 mm zone of inhibition against
Staphylococcus aureus, Erythrodiol exhibited higher antibacterial activity than uvaol against Gram
positive bacteria S. aureus with zones of inhibition of 5.2 mm and 5.0 mm respectively. None of the pure
compounds showed significant activity against Gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli. The results
give a scientific validity and credence to the ethno-medicinal use of this medicinal plant as a chewing
stick.
