Abstract:
The challenges facing currently available antimicrobials such as resistance with
no recent significant discoveries are a major health concern in Kenya
characterized by prolonged hospitalization, high medical costs, and high annual
fatalities. These challenges put great strain on healthcare systems and as such
there is emphasis on new drug discoveries to mitigate the predicament. The
objective of the study was to determine the antibacterial activity of Vepris
glandulosa extracts after careful purification, isolation and structural
characterization. In this study, crude methanol extracts were obtained using the
cold extraction method. Isolation of compounds was accomplished by repeated
column and thin-layer chromatography. One compound was obtained which was
subjected to both 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analysis and the spectroscopic
data obtained was used to propose the structure. The compound had its structure
fully elucidated and was confirmed by comparing its NMR spectroscopic data
with the literature reported to be Lupeol. Lupeol showed antibacterial activity
against selected gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.
