Chemical constituents and cytotoxic activity of stem bark extract of <i>Calophyllum inophyllum</i>

Abstract

Stem bark of Calophyllum inophyllum was extracted with aqueous methanol and screened for secondary metabolites. The crude extract was partitioned with n-hexane to remove fat-soluble constituents, thereafter a portion of the defatted extract was purified using silica gel column chromatography. Both the crude and defatted extracts were investigated for cyctotoxic activity using Brine shrimp lethality assay. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites were confirmed present in the crude while the chromatographic purification afforded three compounds that were characterized as stigmasta-5, 22-dien-3-O-β-D-glucoside (C-1), macluraxanthone (C-2A) and 1, 5-dihydroxyxanthone (C-2B). LC for both crude and defatted extract were 56.22 and 183.55 50 µg/mL, respectively, indicating a good cytotoxic potential.

Key words: Calophylum inophyllum; xanthones; secondary metabolites; Brine shrimps