Phytochemical And Biological Studies Of The Flowers And Fruits Of Pongamia Pinnata L.Pierre Growing In Egypt

The essential oil of the flowers of Pongamia pinnata L.Pierre was prepared by hydrodistillation and analysed using GS/MS technique. Thirty three components were identified, of which, β-citronellene (13.7%), limonene (13.35%) and trans caryophyllene (12.75%) were the major components. The retention indexes of the identified components were determined. GLC analysis of the fatty acid methyl esters prepared from the seed fixed oil and the petroleum ether extract of the flowers revealed the presence of oleic acid as the major fatty acid (84.8% and 34.86% respectively), while the major hydrocarbon detected in the unsaponifiable fraction was n-tetradecane (19.8%) and n-nonadecane (43.66%) respectively.Stigmasterol (3.12%) was the only sterol detected in the fixed oil of the seeds. The seed fixed oil and the aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the seed, flower and pericarp showed significant analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer and antidiabetic activities.Egyptian Journal of Biomedical Sciences Vol. 23 (1) 2007: pp. 1-1