Phytopharmacology 2013, 4(2), 373-389 Labib et al. © 2013 Inforesights Publishing UK 373 Chemical constituents and pharmacological studies of Lagerstroemia indica R. M. Labib* 1 , N. A.Ayoub 1 , A.B. Singab 1 , M. M. Al-Azizi 1 , A. Sleem 2 1 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, 11566-Cairo, Egypt. 2 National Research Center, Department of Pharmacology, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. * Corresponding author: rolamilad@yahoo.com; rolamilad@pharma.asu.edu.eg Received: 19 December 2012, Revised: 26 January 2013, Accepted: 29 January 2013 Abstract Lagerstromia is commonly used as herbal tea in Phillipines. Due to its richness in polyphenolics that urges to investigate one of the cultivated species viz. L. indica. The aqueous methanol leaf extracts of Lagerstroemia indica L., prepared via two extraction methods (A & B), showed significant activities viz. anti- inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, antihyperglycemic, antioxidant and hepatoprotective moreo- ver extract B showed higher activity as antihyperglycemic. The two natural produ- cts were identified for the first time from this plant, brevifolin (15) and decarboxy ellagic acid (21). The known polyphenolics, p-methoxy gallic acid methyl ester (1); Gallic acid (2); 3-O-methylgallate (3); Tellimagrandin (4); Nilocitin (5); 1,3-di-O- galloyl-4,6-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-β- 4 C 1 -glucopyranose (6); 2,3-hexahydroxydip- henic acid-α/β-glucoside (7); Isovitexin (8); Vitexin (9); Iso-orientin (10); Orientin (11); Astralagin (12); Rutin (13); Apigenin-7-O- 4 C 1 -β-D-glucoside (14); Catechin (16); Epicatechin (17); Luteolin-7-O- 4 C 1 -β-D-glucoside (18); 3-methoxyellagic acid (19); Ellagic acid (20); Apigenin (22); Kaempferol (23); Luteolin (24) and Quercetin (25) were identified by different spectroscopic methods (UV, 1 H-NMR and 13 C-NMR). GC analysis of the derivatized hydrolyzed polysaccharide content revealed high amounts of mannose, rhamnose, glucose and galactouronic acids. Keywords: Ellagitannins; flavonoids; Lagerstroemia indica L.; Lythraceae Introduction Lythraceae is a large family, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. It consists of 32 genera and 600 species; Lagerstroemia is a genus that comprises more than 50 species; they are either trees or shrubs with colorful flowers distributed in warm temperate regions from southeastern Asia to Australia. Eighteen species of this genus are scattered in China and mainly used in horticulture (Bailey & Bailey, 1976; and Thames & Hudson, 2004). Lage- rstroemia speciosa Pers. (Bailey, 1958) is used as diuretic, decongestant and to treat diabetes,