N K Mubiru’s scientific contributions

The East African plant Rubus apetalus Poir. was collected as a component of an ethnobotanical survey in southern Uganda. No phytochemical investigations of this plant have been found in the literature. Preliminary antimicrobial susceptibility tests performed in Uganda indicated biological activity against several bacterial and one fungal human pathogen. Bulk re-collection of Rubus apetalus was accomplished and crude extraction performed in preparation for further testing. Two chemical fractions of the crude extract were active in the antimicrobial susceptibility assay. Fractionation of one of the active crude fractions led to the isolation and elucidation of a mixture of related compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC=62 microg/ml), Streptococcus faecalis (16 microg/ml) and Candida albicans (32 microg/ml).

Continuing field interviews brought the total species used for disease treatment by herbalists of the majority Baganda Tribe of southern Uganda to 168. Literature searches provided support for the ethnomedical claims for a number of these species, and provided criteria for the species classification into four categories of use validation. They also helped guide the selection of species for recollection, for chemical extraction and further testing in laboratories of the Uganda Ministry of Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Many species proved active against microorganisms in several susceptibility assays conducted in Uganda and the US.

One-hundred four plant species used medicinally by herbalists from three southern Ugandan tribes were collected and identified. The collection includes a large portion of the materia medica of the Abayanda of the southwest region, as well as species used by herbalists of the Baganda and Bakiga Tribes. Literature searches were performed in preparation for further collections, and for collaborative laboratory validation of in vitro antimicrobial activity. Literature data provide support for ethnomedical claims for a number of species used in Uganda for disease treatment.