The Role of Triterpenoids in the Topical Anti-Inflammatory Activity ofCalendula officinalisFlowers

Abstract

By means of a bioassay-oriented fractionation of the CO2 extract of Calendula flowers, the triterpenoids are shown as the most important anti-inflammatory principles of the drug. Among them, the faradiol monoester appears to be the most relevant principle for the activity of the drug, due to its quantitative prevalence. The unesterified faradiol, not present in the extract, is the most active of the tested compounds and equals indomethacin in activity, whereas the monools psi-taraxasterol, lupeol, taraxasterol, and beta-amyrin are less active than the free diol. The anti-inflammatory activity of different CO2 extracts is proportional to their content of faradiol monoester, which can be taken as a suitable parameter for the quality control of Calendula preparations.

Wound dressings loaded with an anti-inflammatory jucá (Libidibia ferrea) extract using supercritical carbon dioxide technology

“…Terpenoids (lupenone and sitosterol) extracted from different raw materials have been shown to present anti-inflammatory activity [67][68][69][70]. However, the activity of fatty acids as anti-inflammatory agents and wound healing promoters is not so clear [71].…”

Effect of plant population on calendula (Calendula officinalisL.) flower production

“…It is grown for a drug, calendulae flos, obtained from the flowers, particularly the petals (Bissett 1994). Calendulae flos is a complex mixture including essential oils, glycosides, saponins, triols, and xanthophylls, with the triterpenoids being the most important anti-inflammatory principles (Delia Loggia et al 1994). Calendulae flos has been used historically as a traditional medicine and food dye (Khodzhaeva & Turakhozhaev 1993), but is currently being increasingly used as an external anti-inflammatory and wound healer (Bissett 1994;Akihisa et al 1996;Patrick et al 1996).…”

The study of the calendula flowers extraction process

“…These methods of tincture production do not meet modern requirements since the time required to obtain the finished product is long enough, and the plant raw material is exhausted only by 70% [2,3,5,7].…”

“…Pot marigold possesses the anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, wound healing, spasmolytic, hypotensive and sedative properties, increases the metabolic function of the liver. A wide therapeutic activity of calendula is explained by the presence of a considerable number of carotenoids, flavonoids, salicylic acid, vitamins and other compounds [8][9][10][11].At chemical and pharmaceutical enterprises Calendula tincture is obtained by simple maceration or percolation with 70° ethanol [1,3].These methods of tincture production do not meet modern requirements since the time required to obtain the finished product is long enough, and the plant raw material is exhausted only by 70% [2,3,5,7].Pressure enhanced solvent extraction takes the conventional solvent based extraction technology to a new level. This extraction technology effectively combines the use of solvents and elevated pressures to provide superior yields of high quality extracts from naturally occurring materials [4].…”