Raga and colleagues [25] successfully isolated ishwarane, phytol, polyprenol and a mixture of stigmasterol and sitosterol from the dichloromethane extract of air-dried leaves of B. orellana. The current GC-MS analysis revealed six known chemical constituents. However, based on the literature, only four of them are known to exhibit pharmacological
activity. Acetic acid is an organic acid that has been reported to possess antifungal [26] and antibacterial properties [27]. Pentanoic acid (valeric acid) is a sedative, anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing agent [28]; whereas phenol was reported to have anesthetic/analgesic [29] and antiseptic [30] activities. Benzoic acid possesses antibacterial [31] and antifungal properties [32]. As for their antiinflammatory contribution, a low concentration of acetic acid (0.3 mg/mL) has been shown to inhibit histamine release from guinea pig lung mast cells when stimulated by both antigen (ovalbumin) and ionophore A23187 [33]. It is known that allergic reactions develop from large inflammatory
responses caused by the release of mediators, including histamine, during degranulation of mast cells. There is also evidence of histamine itself acting as an inducer of mast cell degranulation [34]. This could have happened in
our rat model, where histamine was injected into animals to induce inflammation.