Abstract

Yin Lu, Yunpeng Zhao and Chengxin Fu

Actinidia macrosperma C. F. Liang is a medicinal plant in China and has been well known for its attraction to cats and activities against leprosy and cancers. In this paper, the petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-hexane and aqueous successive extracts from the stems of A. macrosperma were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities in vitro for the first time, using the disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) / minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC). General toxicity of these extracts has also been assessed by brine shrimp lethality assay. From the results, the chloroform extract exhibited the most significant antimicrobial (MIC in the range of 60 to 500 µg/mL, MBC in the range of 150 to 1000 µg/mL, MFC in the range of 170 to 600 µg/mL) and cytotoxic activities (LC50 = 16.82 µg/mL at 24 h).