Open Access

ARTICLE

Phytochemical Landscape of Coleus forskohlii and Its Role in Countering Staphylococcus Species

Saleh Al-Maaqar^1,2,3,*, Bassam Al-Johny^1,*, Majed Al-Shaeri^1,3, Lara Al-Johny⁴, Adel Qumusani¹, Zakia Albalawy¹, Djadjiti Namla^1,3,5,*

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Albaydha University, Al-Baydha, Yemen
3 Environmental Protection & Sustainability (EPS) Research Group, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
4 Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
5 Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Nile University of Nigeria, FCT-Abuja, Nigeria

* Corresponding Authors: Saleh Al-Maaqar. Email: ; Bassam Al-Johny. Email: ; Djadjiti Namla. Email: ,

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Microbiome Interactions for Transgenerational Stress Resilience in Crops)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2026, 95(4), 17 https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2026.077998

Received 22 December 2025; Accepted 23 February 2026; Issue published 28 April 2026

Abstract

Staphylococcal meningitis, a severe infection of the meninges, highlights the urgent need for new strategies to combat Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infections. In this study, ethanolic leaf extracts of Coleus forskohlii were evaluated for their antibacterial potential against clinical S. aureus isolates associated with meningitis. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified 15 phytochemical compounds, two of which—urs-12-en-28-ol (CID 22213452) and petroselaidic acid (CID 5282754) showed promising binding affinities (−7.5 and −5.9 kcal/mol, respectively) against S. aureus protein (30S ribosomal subunit) in molecular docking studies. In vitro assays confirmed the antibacterial activity of the crude extract, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 62.5 to 125 μg/mL. Disc diffusion and time-kill kinetics further demonstrated concentration-dependent growth inhibition of S. aureus strains. These integrated findings suggest that C. forskohlii-derived compounds are potential antibacterial candidates worthy of further investigation. However, comprehensive in vivo studies are essential to evaluate their efficacy, safety, and therapeutic potential specifically against S. aureus-induced meningitis.

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Keywords

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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