Flavonoids, volatiles and biological activities of the aerial parts of Calliandra haematocephala Hassk

The genus Calliandra (Fabaceae) contains 132 species. Most of them are native of America, but few of Asia and Africa. The current study deals with isolation and identification of flavonoids, as well as, investigation of volatile constituents and biological activity of extracts of the aerial parts of Calliandra haematocephala. The total ethanol extract, as well as, successive extracts (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) were prepared from the dried powdered plant. The flavonoids were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract by using Silica gel column chromatography. The isolated compounds were finally purified by Sephadex LH –20 column [1]. Three flavonoid aglycones, quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, as well as, three flavonoid glycosides, quercetin-3-O- rhmnopyranoside, keampferol-3-O-(2“-O-galloyl)- rhamnopyranoside and myricetin-3-O-(2“,3“-di-O-galloyl)-rhamnopyranoside were identified by determination of UV, ¹HNMR, ¹³CNMR spectra and hydrolytic products [1, 2]. The volatile constituents of fresh aerial parts were prepared by hydro-distillation using Nikerson's apparatus and analyzed by GC/MS analysis. Sixty four compounds were identified representing 93.32% of the total volatiles of the plant. The oxygenated and non-oxygenated compounds constituted 72.34% and 20.98%, respectively. The LD₅₀, analgesic, antipyretic, anticonvulsant, anti-ulcer activity of the successive extracts, as well as, the antioxidant activity of the isolated compounds were investigated. The results of the biological activity tests were statistically analyzed using the student's “t“ test [3]. Most of the tested extracts were found to be significantly active.

References: 1. Mabry, J., Markham, K. (1970), The Systematic Identification of Flavonoids, Springer Verlag, Berlin. 2. Markham, K. (1982), Techniques of Flavonoid Identification, Academic Press, London. 3. Snedecor, W., Cochran, G. (1982), Statistical methods 10th ed, lowa State, University Press, USA.