ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF TRITERPENOIDS FROM Brachystegia eurycoma

Antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health threat, necessitating the search for novel antimicrobial agents. Natural products offer promising alternatives due to their structural diversity and evolutionary refinement. The antibacterial activity of crude extracts of the stem bark of Brachystegia eurycoma against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-resistant Escherichia coli (VRE) was investigated. The stem bark was extracted using hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol, then column chromatography led to the isolation of friedelan-3-one, 2-hydroxy lupeol, and prunetin. The ethyl acetate extract exhibited the highest activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 45.0 µg/mL for MRSA and 10.0 µg/mL for VRE. The study highlights the potential of B. eurycoma as a source of bioactive compounds for antibiotic drug development.