Bioactivity and chemical characterisation of Lophostemon suaveolens - an endemic Australian Aboriginal traditional medicinal plant

Lophostemon suaveolens is a relatively unexplored endemic medicinal plant of Australia. Extracts of fresh leaves of L. suaveolens obtained from sequential extraction with n-hexane and dichloromethane exhibited antibacterial activity in the disc diffusion and MTT microdilution assays against Streptococcus pyogenes and methicillin sensitive and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (minimum bactericidal concentration<63g/mL). The dichloromethane extract and chromatographic fractions therein inhibited nitric oxide in RAW264.7 murine macrophages (IC50 3.7-11.6g/mL) and also PGE(2) in 3T3 murine fibroblasts (IC50 2.8-19.7g/mL). The crude n-hexane, dichloromethane and water extracts of the leaves and chromatographic fractions from the dichloromethane extract also showed modest antioxidant activity in the ORAC assay. GC-MS analysis of the n-hexane fraction showed the presence of the antibacterial compounds aromadendrene, spathulenol, -caryophyllene, -humulene and -pinene and the anti-inflammatory compounds -caryophyllene and spathulenol. Fractionation of the dichloromethane extract led to the isolation of eucalyptin and the known anti-inflammatory compound betulinic acid.