Original Articles
H. O. Egharevba1*, P. Oladosu2
Abstract
The plant Laggera pterodonta is a well-known tropical plant used in ethnomedicine for malaria fever and cough related ailments. Previous report on preliminary investigation had shown that the crude extract had anti-tubercular activity. This study investigated the anti-tubercular activity of some compounds isolated and characterized from the plant. Two of the compounds, taraxasteryl acetate and ethane-1,2-dieicosanoate exhibited significant activity against locally isolated strains of M. tuberculosis with MICs of 691.48 and 269.23 μM, respectively. These compounds may be responsible for the observed activity of the crude plant extract, suggesting that the plant could be used to develop an anti-tuberculosis herbal medicine.