Singh et al. (2002) observed that 1 mg of taraxerol compound exhibited moderate antimicrobial activity against two Gram-positive (
Staphylococcus aureus and
Bacillus thuringiensis) and three Gram-negative bacteria (
Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, and
Klebsiella pneumonia)
[60]. Koay et al. (2013) investigated the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of taraxerol on several bacteria and found that the compound is active against Gram-positive
Bacillus subtilis and
Staphylococcus aureus at a concentration of 15.6 µg/mL but is only moderately inhibitive to the Gram-negative
Escherichia coli,
Klebseilla pneumonia, and
Salmonella typhimurium at a concentration of 62.5 µg/mL The taraxerol antimicrobial activity is comparable to that of positive control gentamicin
[1]. Meanwhile, Hernandez-Chavez et al. (2012) reported on the anti-gardial activities of taraxerol towards
Giardia lambia, a parasitic protozoan
[61]. It was found that taraxerol possessed strong anti-gardial activity exhibiting a growth inhibition (IC
50) of 50% at a concentration of 16.11 µg/mL and a growth inhibition of 90% at a concentration of 102.4 µg/mL, although the activity is lower compared to the positive control metronidazole. Another was on the cytotoxic activity of taraxerol against parasitic protozoans was conducted by Simelane et al. (2013), targeting malaria-causing
Plasmodium falcifarum and
Plasmodium berghei [62]. Anti-plasmodial activities were reported for taraxerol at a concentration of more than 100 µg/mL
[62], but it was found to have no effect on mycobacteria (
Mycobacterium Madagascar and
M. indicuspranii), exhibiting a lower activity than the positive control chloroquine (IC
50 = 14.1 ng/mL)
[57]. Thus, future should focus mainly on the potential of taraxerol as an anti-protozoan drug. Warfield et al. (2014) conducted on the efficacy of taraxerol in combating the parasitic
Trypanosoma cruzi [63]. It was characterized the affinity of taraxerol with the sterol 14α-demethylase enzyme from
Trypanosoma cruzi and found that the skeletal structure of taraxerol has higa affinity towards the enzyme, therefore providing potent inhibitory activity.