Evaluation of anti-inflammatory action of Melaleuca bracteata F. Muell. leaf extract

The present work focused on preparing ethanolic extract of Melaleuca bracteata F. Muell. and evaluating its anti-inflammatory potential using in vitro and in vivo models. The ethanolic extract was dark brown in color and had an yield of 46.3% with respect to the weight of the leaf powder used for extraction. The total phenolic content in the ethanolic extract, expressed as gallic acid equivalents was found to be 74.27±0.59 GAE mg/g. The ethanolic extract of Melaleuca Bracteata exhibited the inhibition of albumin denaturation at all doses in a dose dependent manner. The 500 µg/mL concentration of the extract had shown the greatest inhibition capacity (58.9±2.869%) whereas the lowest inhibition capacity was exhibited by concentration 100 µg/mL (11.52±3.291%). MBE at dose level of 200 mg/Kg exhibited maximum reduction in edema after 3h with 27.74% reduction whereas the change decreased at the 4th hour to 16.57%. MBE dose of 400 mg/Kg exhibited 42.77% reduction after 3h. The results obtained led to the conclusion that Melaleuca bracteata leaves are a rich source of potential phytochemicals and exhibits anti-inflammatory action