Abstract
The antiinflammatory activity of 22 plants used in folk medicine, or indigenous in the United Arab Emirates, was tested using the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema method. Three plants (Citrullus colocynthis, Hammada elegans and Rhazya stricta) showed such activity. Activity-guided fractionation of Hammada elegans extract led to the isolation of a single active compound which was identified as piperidine hydrochloride. Citrullus colocynthis-m^aced antiinflammatory activity may by due to loss of body water.