Abstract
Rutin was isolated from the methanol extract of the aerial parts of Asparagus suaveolens using the precipitation method. In South African traditional medicine, Asparagus suaveolens is used to treat gonorrhea infections. The structure of the isolated compound was confirmed through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses, and by comparison with previously published data on rutin isolation.
The antimicrobial activity of rutin was evaluated against the 2008 World Health Organization reference strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The results showed that rutin exhibited bacteriostatic activity against the WHO 2008 Neisseria gonorrhoeae F, G, N, and O strains, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.40, 0.65, 0.22, and 0.65 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, rutin performed better than the reference drugs and demonstrated bactericidal activity against the K, L, M, and P strains.
These findings support the traditional use of Asparagus suaveolens by South African Indigenous communities for the treatment of gonorrhea infections. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the activity of rutin against N. gonorrhoeae strains.
Keywords: Asparagus suaveolens; Rutin; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Flavonoid; MIC.