ISSN: 2577-4360
Authors: Ani ON*, Oguazu CE and Akpata EI
Eucalyptus tereticornis is a plant well-known for its various medicinal properties. The essential oil produced from Eucalyptus tereticornis leaf are found useful in ethnomedicine. This study evaluated the phytochemical composition and in-vitro antiinflammatory activity of the leaf extract of Eucalyptus tereticornis. The analyses were done using standard biochemical methods. The anti-inflammatory activity at concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 5 and 10 mg/ml was measured using three in-vitro assays viz; membrane stabilization, inhibition of albumin denaturation and anti-proteinase activity assays. Diclophenac was used as standard drug. The result of phytochemical analysis showed the presence of Tannins (6.02 ± 0.001 mg/g), Alkaloids (2.99 ± 0.00 mg/g), Saponin (7.12 ± 0.004 mg/g), Glycosides (8.68 ± 0.006 mg/g), Terpenoids (1.50 ± 0.002 mg/g), Flavonoids (9.09 ± 0.03 mg/g), Steroids (2.03 ± 0.04 mg/g) and Phenol (5.53 ± 0.01 mg/g). From the anti-inflammatory assay results, the extract and the standard displayed a concentration dependent activities which were significantly different (p<0.05). At the highest concentration of 10 mg/ml, the extract displayed 59.60% and 43.75% inhibition of heat and hypotonicity-induced haemolysis respectively while that of the standard were 76.32% and 56.19% inhibition respectively. The extract displayed 53.87% inhibition of albumin denaturation activity while the standard displayed 71.23% activity. The anti-proteinase activity of the extract was 28.60% while that of the standard was 57.65%. This study has shown that the leaf extract of Eucalyptus tereticornis contains bioactive compounds which are important therapeutic agents. The leaf could be used in design of a potent anti-inflammatory drug for management and treatment of diseases associated with inflammatory reactions.
Keywords: Eucalyptus tereticornis; Phytochemical; Anti-Inflammatory; Membrane Stabilization; Red Blood Cell; Diclophenac
