Antibacterial and chemical evaluation of Chromolaena moritziana.

Chromolaena moritziana (Sch. Bip. ex Hieron.) King & Robin. (Asteraceae) is used in local ethnomedicine as an anticatarrhal, a depurative and in the treatment of skin diseases. This ethnopharmacological information has a direct correlation with that reported for other Chromolaena species. Dichloromethane and aqueous extracts from the leaves as well as ethyl acetate extracts from the flowers have shown antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and a UV-V light effect was not observed against this bacterium. These results may justify the ethnomedical use in skin infections. The flavonoids kaempferol, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, rutin and isoquercitrin as well as the triterpene alpha-amyrin were isolated.