The leaves of Salix mucronata (safsaf willow), widely distributed along the Nile River in Egypt, is used in traditional medicine. This prompted us to examine the bioactive components in its leaves using in-vitro antioxidant and antiinflammatory assays. Bioassay-guided purification of the methanolic extract afforded six known phenolic compounds (1-6). Hexane extract did not contain bioactive compounds except chlorophyll. Pure isolates 1-3 and 6 inhibited lipid peroxidation (LPO) by 56-86% at 5 μg/mL and cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and -2) by 22-75% at 25 μg/mL. This is the first report on the bioassay-guided characterization of constituents in S. mucronata leaves. Our results support the anecdotal medicinal claims of safsaf leaves.
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