Antimalarial and Antibacterial Substances Separated from Higher Plants

Abstract

The saline extracts of 5 plants (buttercup, sagebrush, dwarf waterleaf, mountain pasque, and juniper) of more than 200 tested were found to have antibacterial and antimalarial activity by in vitro methods. One plant, buttercup, was found to inhibit the growth of many Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, fungi, soil organisms, and nonpathogenic protozoa by in vitro methods. Mountain pasque and buttercup contain vapors which were bacteriostatic and bactericidal. Volatile oils from the same plants exhibit similar activities. An extract of mountain pasque protects mice heavily infected with the pneumococcus. Two plants, sagebrush and dwarf waterleaf, contained substances that protected chickens during the blood phase of malaria. An incidental observation revealed that the same 2 plants possessed anesthetic properties in chickens and mice.