Abstract: | The acetone-water extract of Hexachlamys edulis (Myrtaceae) inhibited the enzyme xanthine oxidase (XO) in vitro . Bioassay-guided isolation led to the gallic acid ester in 2″ of myricitrin (desmanthin-1), (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGG) and pentagalloylglucose as the main XO inhibitors of H. edulis . Desmanthin-1 and EGG were mixed-type inhibitors of XO with K i values of 1.6×10?4 M and 1.8×10?4 M , respectively. Pentagalloylglucose was an uncompetitive XO inhibitor with a K ESI of 6.7×10?6M . From the active n -butanol soluble part of the aqueous acetone extract of H. edulis , several flavonoids were isolated. The flavonoids were mainly myricetin-3-O-monoglycosides with the quercetin glycoside avicularin as a minor compound displaying a weak inhibitory activity towards XO. |