Centro Interdipartimentale di Servizio per la Microscopia Elettronica C.I.S.M.E., University of Naples Federico II, via Foria 223, 80139, Napoli, Italy.
*E-mail: sersorbo@unina.it
Recent Research Developments in Phytochemistry
The antibacterial, antioxidant and allelopathic properties of extracts from different bryophytes were investigated in separate trials. Mnium undulatum, Leptodictyum riparium, Pleurochaete squarrosa, Rhynchostegium riparioides and Lunularia cruciata extracts and 7 pure flavonoids from mosses showed significant antibacterial activity on Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp. and Enterococcus sp.) and particularly good activity on Gram-negative bacteria (Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp. and Klebsiella sp.). L. cruciata and Pleurochaete squarrosa extracts showed antioxidant activity in a luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. A catechin in the extracts and 2 of its derivatives, showed potent antioxidant activity. The 7 pure flavonoids used in the antibacterial assays showed significant allelopathic activity on spore germination and growth of the moss Torula muralis and on the root development of Raphanus sativus.
