[Observations and research on an extract of Inula viscosa Ait ]

The folk medical tradition ascribes to Inula viscosa (a suffrutescent plant of Compositae widely spread along the Mediterranean basin) balsamic, antipyretic, antiphlogistic and antiseptic properties. Pharmacological test on rabbits, made hyperpyretic in laboratory, gave satisfactory antipyretic results. Gas chromatographical separation from a high-boiling fraction of seven azulenes, two of them identified as 1,4-dimethyl-azulene (about 50% and chamazulene (32%), confirmed the antiphlogistic action ascribed to the plant. By the present research (solvent extraction, thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography are described in detail) eucalyptol was identified in a fraction of essential oil obtained from fresh leaves of the plant. This datum supports the balsamic and antiseptic properties of Inula viscosa Ait.