Antibacterial activities of acetonides prepared from the seed oils of Calophyllum inophyllum and Pterocarpus osun

Abstract Calophyllum inophyllum and Pterocarpus osun are underutilized plant species in Nigeria, but these have the potential to serve as a source material for various industries, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Over the years, the search for antimicrobial agents from cheap and renewable sources has been on the rise. In this study, oil was extracted from the seeds of C. inophyllum and P. osun , analyzed for fatty acid composition, and the oils were then converted into acetonides by simple chemical reactions. The acetonides synthesized from these oils were tested for antimicrobial activities. The oil yield from C. inophyllum (41.96 ± 2.0%) and P. osun (10.16 ± 0.5%) was fairly high. C18:1 was the most dominant fatty acid in C. inophyllum (36.88 ± 0.20%), whereas C18:2 was the most dominant form in P. osun (38.97 ± 0.50%). Acetonides were produced from the oils with a yield of 91.70% for C. inophyllum and 92.10% for P. osun . The synthesis was monitored and confirmed using the PerkinElmer Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer. The acetonide from C. inophyllum inhibited the growth of organisms such as Escherichia coli , Salmonella typhi, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa , whereas the oil had inhibitory activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus . Acetonides from P. osun did not show any inhibition activity against the studied organisms.