Abstract:
They are a unique group of fungi usually ignored by most fungi enthusiasts because of their typical inedibility, unfamiliar habitat and general opacity. In addition to their traditional use, contemporary research has suggested many applications for cancer treatment and boosting of the immune system. Due to increase in bacterial resistance to existing antibiotics infectious diseases have remained a major threat to human health. Hence bioactive compounds are continuously sought for disease prophylaxis and treatment. The main objective of the current work was to evaluate bioactive compounds from medicinal polypore species Ganoderma adspersum, Ganoderma applanatum, Ganoderma australe and Trametes elegans collected from Mau, Kericho area, Kabarnet and Kerio valley forests in Kenya. The dried, ground fruiting bodies of the species were extracted with methanol to give methanol crude extract, then consecutively extracted using ethyl acetate solvent to obtain an ethyl acetate extract. Fractionation and purification using column chromatography technique and further purification of some compounds was achieved on sephadex LH20. The chemical structures were determined on the basis of NMR spectroscopic data from 1H and 13C NMR, HSQC, HMBC, 1H-1H COSY and NOESY experiments, and by comparing obtained results to the values indicated in previous studies. The polypore Ganoderma adspersum yielded ergostane compounds namely ergosta-7,22-dien-3-one (54), ergosta-7,22-diene-3β -ol (55) and ergosta- 5,7,22-trien-3-ol (56). Ganoderma applanatum gave five compounds, 55, 56, 5α,8α– epidioxyergosta-6,9(11),22-trien-3β-ol (57), 5α,8α–epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol (58), 24- hydroxy-olean-12-en-3-one (59). The fruiting body of Ganoderma australe yielded compounds 55, 56 and 57 and Trametes elegans gave 55, 56, ergosta-7,22-dien-3,5,6-triol (60), lupeol (61) and 9,19-cycloartane-3,30-diol (62). Antimicrobial activity was assessed against important clinical bacterial and fungal strains and zones of inhibition examined using
one-way ANOVA through Tukey’s PostHoc test. Most notable inhibition being against
Streptococcus pyogenes 9.7 0.58 mm by compound 56, 9.0 0.58 mm by compound 55,
9.0 0.58 mm by a mixture of 57 and 58 and 8.0 0.33 mm by compound 59. It was
observed that all Gram negative bacteria were insensitive to the treatment of compounds. In conclusion the study has indicated that the isolated compounds have antibacterial properties hence have demonstrated their potential as antibacterial agents. The research has also revealed that our natural indigenous forests still harbours novel natural bioactive substances and strains that needs to be investigated for novel myco-medicines in the future.
