Phytochemicals of Calophyllum inophyllum

Abstract

Calophyllum inophyllum is a woody tree species that exclusively grows on sandy sea beaches along the Western Ghats of India and other parts of the world such as Tropical Asia, East Africa, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, and several Pacific islands. C. inophyllum has many therapeutic and traditional uses and has great potential since the plant has been reported to have several medicinally important bioactive principles belonging to xanthones, steroids, triterpenes, coumarins, and benzopyrans. Most significantly, 11 compounds have been isolated from C. inophyllum which are having anti-HIV activity. This chapter describes the importance of this plant with a major emphasis on its phytochemistry and medicinal properties.