Constituents From Brazilian Propolis Against Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium covae, Two Bacteria Affecting Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium covae are two bacteria species that cause diseases in farm-raised channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) that cause heavy economic damage to the aquaculture industry, particularly to the channel catfish farming. In search for environmentally benign antibacterial compounds active against E. ictaluri and F. covae, we investigated the constituents isolated from Brazilian red, brown and green propolis. We have also synthetically modified active constituents to see if lipophilicity plays a role in enhancing antibacterial activities. Vestitol, neovestitol and methylvestitol were found to be the active constituents with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) relative to drug control florfenicol (RDCF) values (MIC RDCF) of 7.6, 7.6 and 7.9 mg/L, respectively, against F. covae. The activity against E. ictaluri was not significant.