Abstract
In the course of screening natural products for smooth muscle relaxant properties,
the effects of constituents of Satureja obovata var. obovata (Lamiaceae) on vascular reactivity experiments were studied. Bioassay-guided fractionation
led to pure vasodilator compounds, identified by spectroscopic methods as the flavonoids:
naringenin, eriodictyol, and luteolin. The relaxant effects induced by different extracts
and fractions obtained on KCl (80 mM) and noradrenaline (NA) (10-6M) induced contractions on isolated rat aorta were selected as bio-assay procedures.
The sustained contraction induced by NA (10-6M) and K+ (80 mM) were relaxed by luteoline (98.7 ± 0.7%; 40.30 ± 2.4%), naringenin (12.41
± 1.8%; 3.05 ± 0.3%), and eriodictyol (67.48 ± 3.3%; 17.93 ± 2.1%) each at the dose
of 5 × 10-5M, respectively.
