Background: Many plants of genus Cordia are traditionally used as astringent, anti-inflammatory, anthelminthic, antimalarial, diuretic, febrifuge, appetite suppressant and cough suppressant and to treat urinary infections, lung diseases and leprosy. The aim of the study is to determine the total phenolic and flavonoid contents of total ethanol extract and different fractions of C. myxa L. leaves, in addition to evaluation of some pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic effects. Methods: Air dried powder of C. myxa leaves were extracted using 95% ethanol and fractionated successively with petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and finally with n-butanol. The fractions were concentrated and then investigated for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities using phosphomolybidinum and DPPH assays, carrageenan-induced paw edema, hot plate, yeast -induced pyrexia and streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemia methods, respectively. Results: The ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest antioxidant activity with high phenolic and flavonoid contents (31.03 ± 0.15 mg gallic acid equivalent/g dried weight and 811.91 ± 0.07 mg rutin equivalent/g dried weight, respectively). Dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions exhibited higher anti-inflammatory activity with percentages of inhibition 45.16% and 40.26%, respectively, which were quite comparable to that of indomethacin (51.61%). The petroleum ether and dichloromethane fractions showed the highest analgesic activity with reaction time 289.00 ± 3.00 and 288.33 ± 20.82, respectively. Evaluation of antipyretic activity revealed that the total ethanol extract and different fractions showed high antipyretic activities after 2 h, which were very close to that of the standard acetyl salicylic acid with a rapid onset (30 min). The total ethanol extract and the petroleum ether fraction exhibited the most potent hypoglycemic effect with a significant reduction in blood glucose level especially after 3 h to 95.67 ± 5.77 mg/dl and 87.67 ± 10.26 mg/dl, respectively and percentages decrease in blood glucose level were 68.22% and 70.78%, respectively. Conclusion: Cordia myxa L. extract and fractions exhibited antioxidant, anti-inflammatory analgesic, antipyretic and antidiabetic activities which may be attributed by the presence of active phytoconstituents.

Abutilon Miller is a genus belonging to family Malvaceae comprises about 150 species. The plants of this genus are annual or perennial herbs, shrubs or even small trees. It is native to the tropical and subtropical countries of America, Africa, Asia and Australia. The genus has a significant importance, which is attributed to valuable insoluble fibers obtained from different species of the genus such as Abutilon theophrastii and also due to several species grown as garden ornamental plants such as A. ochsenii and A. vitifolium. Reviewing the available literature on genus Abutilon revealed the presence of a diversity of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, sterols, triterpenes, quinones, coumarins, alkaloids, sphingolipids, megastigmanes, iridoids and others, which are responsible for its biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, gastroprotective, cytotoxic, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anthelmintic, anti-malarial, anti-leishmanial, CNS activty, anti-stress, immunostimulant, anti-venom, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-hypertensive, aphrodisiac, abortifacient, antidiarrhoeal, diuretic, anti-urolithiatic, and wound healing activities.

Phytochemical investigation of the n-BuOH fraction of the mangrove plant Lumnitzera racemosa WILLD. (Combretaceae) led to the isolation of one new flavonoid glycoside; myrcetin 3-O-methyl glucuronate (1), one new phenolic glycoside; lumniracemoside (2) and one new aliphatic alcohol glycoside; n-hexanol 1-O-rutinoside (3), in addition to seven known compounds (4-10). The structures of these compounds were determined by spectroscopic analyses (UV, IR, high resolution-electrospray ionization (HR-ESI)-MS, one- and two-dimensional (1D- and 2D)-NMR). Compound 7 showed the highest hepatoprotective activity against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity using human HepG2 cells at protection % value of 34.2±3.1%, while compounds 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 showed weak to moderate hepatoprotective activity (11.6-18.9%). Almost all of these compounds showed stronger 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity compared with the standard Trolox. These results suggest the usefulness of this plant extract and the isolated compounds as promising hepatoprotective agents.

Three new compounds were isolated from a MeOH extract of the leaves of Syzygium samarangense, one new cyanogenic glucoside, taxiphyllin 6'-O-gallate (1), one new megastigmane glucoside, actinidioionoside 6'-O-gallate (2), and one new sulfated flavonoid rhamnoside, myricetrin 2″-O-sulfate (3), together with 14 known compounds, lupeol (4), demethoxymatteucinol (5), cryptostrobin (6), betulinic acid (7), β-sitosterol glucoside (8), 2R-prunasin (9), myrciaphenone A (10), 1-feruloyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (11), (3S,5R,6R,7E,9S)-3,5,6,9-tetrahydroxymegastigman-7-ene (12), guaijaverin (13), myricetin 4'-methyl ether 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (14), myricetrin (15), gallic acid (16) and actinidioionoside (17). The structures of the new compounds were determined through a combination of spectroscopic, HPLC and chemical analyses.