Effectiveness of isolated compound from Aloe barbadensis Miller and its formulated ointment against bacteria and fungi

Ethnomedicinally, the family Liliaceae is prominent in controlling skin, wound and fungal infections. A carboxylic fatty acid derivative has been isolated from Aloe vera leaves and its structure was elucidated on the basis of NMR and FT-IR analysis. The compound was formulated as ointment with the aid of polymer based delivery agent. The ointment and the uncontaminated fatty acid have been scrutinized aimed at their anti-infectious potential. Individually, the pure compound and the formulated ointment exhibited growth inhibitory activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Candida albicans and Talaromyces flavus. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were found to be appreciably low, ranging between 0.30 and 2.50 mg/ml. The formulated ointment displayed highly significant inhibitory activities against all six pathogens compared to the unformulated compound. The MIC values of the ointment ranged between 0.08 and 1.25 mg/g. The in vitro antibiotic activity studies discovered that, both the pure compound and the formulated ointment showed potency against the selected multi-resistant microorganisms tested in the current work. These findings suggest that the isolated carboxylic acid derivative may be beneficial in the discovery of antibiotics highly potent against drug-resistant pathogens. Furthermore, it may add to the improvement of preservatives in the food industry. Lastly, it could be considered as new source of natural antibiotics in the pharmaceutical industry.