Isolation of virus-cell fusion inhibitory components from Eugenia caryophyllata.

The fractionation of Eugenia caryophyllata (Myrtaceae) guided by the syncytia formation inhibition assay led to the isolation of four tannins (eugeniin, casuarictin, 1,3-di-O-galloyl-4,6-(S)-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-beta-D-glucopyranose, and tellimagrandin I), and two chromones (biflorin and isobiflorin). Among the isolated compounds, tellimagrandin (4) showed a significantly high inhibitory activity on the syncytia formation with an IC50 value of 16.12 +/- 1.98 micrograms/ml.