Anti-inflammatory and Intestinal Movement Enhancing Effects of Water Extract from Flowers of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl

Anti-inflammatory and small intestinal movement enhancing effects of water extract from the Guifei loquat flower tea (WGFT) were studied. Dosages of the water extractadministered to the lab mice in the experiment included the high (1.6 g·kg^-1), medium (0.8 g·kg^-1), and low (0.4 g·kg^-1) levels. The results showed that all doses of WGFT reduced the formation of granuloma in themice. In comparison with control, the high, medium, and low doses of the teadecreased the granuloma weight in miceby 39.98% (P<0.01), 40.02% (P<0.01), and 31.98% (P<0.05), respectively. For the ear inflammation reductionon mice, the high dose reducedthe ear-swellingby 30.55% (P<0.01), and medium dose by 23.47% (P<0.05) over control. As for the effect on the small intestinal movement, the high and mediumlevels of WGFT improvedthe movement by 87.19% (P<0.01)and 68.87% (P<0.01), respectively, as compared with that of control. It appeared thatthe water extract significantly induced anti-inflammatory and small intestinal movement enhancing effects on the mice. Itsuggested a potential medical application of the loquat flowers in the future.