Chemical constituents and anti-inflammatory activity of the aerial parts of Calliandra haematocephala Hassk

The carbohydrate content of Calliandra haematocephala was determined as glucose by the phenol-sulphuric acid method. It showed that the percentage of total carbohydrates and free sugars was 5.4% and 2.3% respectively. HPLC analysis of low molecular weight carbohydrates extracted by 80% ethanol [1] revealed the presence of ten sugars representing 99.48% of total sugars. The major sugars were ribose (19.12%), galacturonic acid (10.78%), glucose (8.15%), arabinose (7.72%), and fructose (7.64%). The polysaccharide hydrolysate of C. haematocephala extracted by cold and hot water revealed the identification of six and seven sugars representing 83.83% and 82.56% of total sugars, respectively. The major sugars of the cold extract were rhamnose (53.89%), ribose (11.49%), and mannose (10.24%), while those of the hot extract were ribose (27.17%), rhamnose (14.56%), glucuronic acid (13.71%), mannose (11.47%), and glucose (6.44%).

The protein content of C. haematocephala was found to be 14.25%, as determined by Micro-Kjeldal method [2]. Total amino acids were determined by an amino acid analyzer, which allowed the identification of 17 amino acids. The major ones were glutamic acid (38.80%), aspartic acid (9.72%), isoleucine (6.1%) and tyrosine (5.37%). Sulphosalicylic acid hydrolysis for determination of free amino acids revealed the presence of 17 amino acids, of which glutamic acid (24.10%), aspartic acid (10.71%), isoleucine (7.91%) and lysine (6.12%) were most dominant.

The anti-inflammatory activity of the total ethanol and successive extracts of the plant at two dose levels was determined by the rat paw oedema assay [3]. Results were statistically analyzed. The highest activity was found at 100mg/kg b.wt. of the total ethanol extract (87.80% potency) followed by 100mg/kg b.wt. of chloroform extract (81.81% potency) in comparison with indomethacin (100% potency). The rest of the extracts showed moderate dose dependant activities.

References: [1] Gertz, C.H. (1990). HPLC tips and tricks, Great Britain at the add press, Oxford p.608. [2] Pearson, D. (1970); „The Chemical Analysis of Food“ 6th ed. Churchill Ltd., London. [3] Winter, G.A. et al. (1962) Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. III, 1544.