Boesenbergia kingii Mood & L.M. Prince, a medicinal plant used to treat infected inflammatory disease was investigated for antibacterial and anti-HIV-1 integrase (IN) activities using the broth dilution method and multiplate integration assay, respectively. Seven compounds were isolated from the active chloroform fraction of B. kingii including 8-hydroxydauca-9,11-diene-7-one (1), dauca-8,11-diene-7-one (2), dauca-8,11-diene-7,10-dione (3), kaempferol-7,4'-dimethyl ether (4), kaempferol-3,7,4'-trimethyl ether (5), dihydrobisdemethoxycurcumin (6) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (7). All of sesquiterpenes markedly exhibited the inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Compound 6 exhibited the highest activity against only S. aureus. However, the most active antibacterial 6 did not inhibit the activity of HIV-1 IN whereas 7 showed moderate anti-HIV-1 IN and antimicrobial activities. This study demonstrated that some compounds found in B. kingii are responsible for anti-bacterial activity and anti-HIV-1 IN. The results of this study support the ethnomedicinal uses of B. kingii to some extent.
