Bioactivity and chemical constituents of L. leaves

Background and objective

L. is a deciduous tree belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is used in folk medicine as it possesses important biological activities: antimutagenic, anticancer, cytotoxic, and rheumatoid arthritis-treating properties. The study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities of the nonpolar extract of the plant in addition to investigation of its chemical composition.
Materials and methods
The dried powdered leaves of were successively extracted with solvents of increasing polarities: petroleum ether (PE), chloroform, ethyl acetate, and aqueous ethanol; moreover, the total ethanol extract was also prepared. The PE extract was fractionated into unsaponifiable matter (USM) and fatty acids, which were methylated to give FAME fractions, which are subjected to GC/MS analysis.
Results
GC/MS analysis of USM and FAME revealed that 24 compounds represented 76.86% of the total fraction of USM, with squalene (22.68%) as the major compound followed by nonacosane (21.03%) and isophytol (14.70%). Twenty-one compounds of FAME fraction representing 85.87% were identified, with methyl 9,12,15-octadecatrienoate (31.37%) as the major compound followed by methyl hexadecanoate (19.35%) and methyl 9,12-octadecadienoate (13.52%). The unsaturated fatty acid represented 45.89% of the total fraction. GLC of the sterol fraction isolated from the PE revealed the identification of campesterol (51.23%), stigmasterol (42.34%), β sitosterol (4.88%), and cholesterol (1.55%). The PE extract exhibited the highest analgesic and antipyretic activities (81.73 and 91.10% potency, respectively) in comparison with tramadol and paracetamol (100% potency), correspondingly, whereas total ethanol extract exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory activity followed by ethyl acetate and PE extract (74.60, 66.66 and 62.69% potency, respectively) in comparison with indomethacin (100% potency).
Conclusion
The results of our study suggest that the PE extract of leaves extracts can be used as an alternative therapy for their analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic activities.