Abstract

• Developing countries, where dysentery and diarrhea are endemic, depend strongly on traditional medicine as a source for inexpensive treatments because it is based on plants which are abundantly available in these countries. Consequently, Myanmar medicinal plants (Zi-Byu and Phan-Kha) which are used for the treatment of dysentery and diarrhea in Myanmar were selected to study in order to find the scientific basis for such use. Polar and non-polar extracts of the selected fruits were tested on six microorganisms by agar well diffusion technique. Phytochemical examination for types of organic constituents present in Zi-Byu and Phan-Kha fruits were carried out. The polar extracts of Zi-Byu and Phan-Kha showed antimicrobial activities (17 mm - 40 mm) against all the six microorganisms tested. Gallic acid (0.9 %) and β-sitosterol (0.36 %) were isolated from ZiByu and Phan-Kha, respectively. The isolated gallic acid was identified by UV, FT IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and mass spectrometry. β-sitosterol isolated from Phan-Kha was confirmed by authentic β-sitosterol and also compared with melting point determination. Moreover, isolated gallic acid showed antimicrobial activity (12 mm - 15 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Mycobacterium species.