Ethnobotany and antibacterial effects of golden berry (physalis peruviana l.) on Salmonella typhi in Mbeya rural district, Tanzania

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been used worldwide in managing human and animal diseases. However, their use and community-based formulation methods in many places, including Mbeya Rural District in Tanzania, are rarely described or documented. This study assessed the ethnobotany and antibacterial effects of Physalis peruviana in managing typhoid fever infections in Mbeya Rural District. The research was conducted on five villages;108 key informants, including 93 household members and 15 traditional healers, were involved in the study. The agar diffusion method evaluated the in vitro antibacterial activity of aqueous leaf extract of Physalis peruviana. LC-MS/MS was used to identify the phytochemical compounds in the Physalis peruviana leaf. Findings from this study indicate that all informants (100%) know the Physalis peruviana leaves as a medicine for treating typhoid fever. Boiling and soaking of leaves showed efficacy against the antibacterial activity of Salmonella typhi. The inhibitory activities of soaking were 15.16 mm and 14.33 mm for dry and fresh leaf extracts respectively, while that of boiled leaves was 3.66 mm. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of eight compounds namely; quinaldic acid, 6-O-malonylglycitin, 4-hydroxyd-2,3,4,6- tetramethoxychalcone,9,10-anthracenedione,1,4-diamino 5nitro, jatrorrhizine cation, 7- hydroxycoumarin-3- carboxylic acid, isovitexin, and nicergoline. Out of these eight compounds, four were identified to have antibacterial activity. This research adds to our knowledge of the antibacterial effects of Physalis peruviana leaf. In addition, it provides further studies on the isolation of compounds that can be used to develop useful antibiotics against Salmonella typhi.