Chemical constituents, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of bark extracts from Prunus tucumanensis Lillo.

The anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of the hexane (HE), chloroform (CE) and methanol (ME) extracts obtained from the bark of Prunus tucumanensis Lillo were investigated. Both ME and CE extracts displayed a significant in vitro anti-inflammatory activity similar to dexamethasone and to a commercial formulation (Pygeum) used for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). ME exhibited powerful antioxidant (67.6% relative to BHT) and free radical scavenging (RC50 = 5 ppm) activities, antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium smegmatis and did not show any cytotoxic effect on human-derived macrophage cells. Chemical analyses showed that (2 R,3 R)-3,5,7,3',5'-pentahydroxyflavan, β-sitosterol and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (daucosterol) are relevant components of ME.