Evaluation of the biological activities of crude extracts from patagonian prosopis seeds and some of their active principles.

Extracts of different polarities from three species and three varieties of the genera Prosopis: P. alpataco, P. denudans var. denudans, P. denudans var. patagonica, and P. denudans var. stenocarpa, were screened in order to evaluate their antibacterial, antifungal, antifeedant, antihelminthic, molluscicidal and toxic activities. The extractions of the plant materials were carried out successively with petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. All petroleum ether extracts showed antibacterial activity. The dichloromethane extract of P. alpataco showed antibacterial and antifungal activities. Methanol and aqueous extracts of P. denudans var. denudans and P. denudans var. patagonica showed antifungal activities and a slight response to the toxicity test. Fatty acids and a group of pentacyclic triterpenes were identified as responsible for antibacterial activities in some of the active extracts.