Investigation of anti-microbial activity and phytochemical characterisation of plant extracts

Traditional medicine is becoming widely accepted in Western countries. The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre, Malaysia, has provided extracts from their collection of Southeast Asian plants that were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal properties. From the fifty extracts, six were found to exhibit broad spectrum antibacterial activity. Use of these plants for the treatment of illnesses has been substantiated by our findings. Further research to understand the healing abilities reported for an Australian bush medicine obtained from the leaves of the Australian plant, Eremophila longifolia, identified two novel natural compounds and their discovery has advanced knowledge of an important indigenous medicine.