The Antifungal Activity of Erica manipuliflora Salisb. Extracts and Secondary Metabolite: Ursolic Acid

Erica manipuliflora Salisb. and Erica arborea L. are common species in the seaside areas in Turkey. The aerial parts of Erica manipuliflora and Erica arborea, have been generally utilized as astringent, diuretic and cure of urinary infections in Turkey. Although we have encountered any antifungal activity studies of the plant in the literature, we learned that this plant was used by the people of Mugla to cure nail fungus. Therefore we started to study on Erica manipuliflora salisb. The aim of our work to obtain biologically active (antifungal) substances from the aboveground part of Erica manipuliflora salisb., identification of these compounds using 1D and 2D NMR and FABMS methods and evaluation of antifungal activity of the main metabolites of the extractive fractions n-BuOH (EBA-EBE) against Candida albicans in vitro. As a result of our study, one known oleanane-type aglycone was isolated as a major compound from the aerial part of Erica manipuliflora salisb. The structure elucidation of the compound was primarily obtained by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques and FABMS. The output of our studies supports that triterpene saponins with the oleanane-type skeleton might be chemotaxonomically important for the genus Erica. Additionally, our work was designed to assess the in vitro antifungal activity of the n-BuOH fractions (EBA-EBE) and a major secondary metabolite: Ursolic acid on Candida albicans. The conclusion of the antifungal activity evaluation, it has been proved that the major compound: Ursolic acid and the fractions n-BuOH (EBA-EBE) from the aerial part of E. manipluflora possess an inhibitory effect on the growth of pathogenic yeast (C. albicans). The search for naturally occurring chemical agents for Candida albicans is a global challenge right now, as industrialized countries are experiencing a pandemic infection of the human gut with this fungus, which displaces normal microflora.