Phenolic compounds of Iris adriatica and their antimycobacterial effects

Little is known about the pharmacological activities of Iris adriatica (Iridaceae), a plant en-demic to Dalmatia (Croatia). For this purpose, we performed a bioassay-guided fractionation including high-performance counter current chromatography (HPCCC) and antibacterial tests using Mycobacterium smegmatis mc² 155. One obtained fraction was found to be antimyco-bacterially active with a MIC of 64 mg L-1. Furthermore, fractions were tested for resistance modulatory effects using ethidium bromide as substrate. We were able to identify the pure isoflavonic compounds irigenin and irilone and a fraction containing mainly the benzophenone 2, 4, 6-trihydroxy-4- methoxy-benzophenone to be responsible for the resistance-modulatory activity of this plant.