Planta Med 2013; 79 - PF7
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352064

Antioxidant activity and phenol content and flavonoids total of the Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart and Hymenaea courbaril L

EC Mello-Peixoto 1, PA Figueiredo 2, LP Silva 3, RM Silva 4
  • 1Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná (UENP), Centro de Ciências Agrárias. Rodovia BR-369, Km 54, Vila Maria, CP 261, CEP 86360 – 000. Bandeirantes, Paraná, Brazil.
  • 2Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Assis, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas – Laboratório de Fitoterápicos (FITOLAB), Avenida Dom Antônio 2100, CEP: 19806 – 900, Assis, São Paulo, Brazil.
  • 3Fundação Educacional do Município de Assis (FEMA), Assis, São Paulo, Brazil.
  • 4Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Assis, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas – Laboratório de Fitoterápicos (FITOLAB), Avenida Dom Antônio 2100, CEP: 19806 – 900, Assis, São Paulo, Brazil. Universidade Estadual Pauli

Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart. and Hymenaea courbaril L. var. stilbocarpa (Hayne), family Leguminosae, are medicinal species commonly found in the Brazil, they are widely used in tea form to treat several diseases such as gastric pain, ulcers, diarrhoea and inflammation. The beneficial effects of these species are correlated with the presence of secondary metabolites. In this context, the aim of the present work was to investigate antioxidant activity and the phenolic compounds and flavonoids in methanolic and hydroethanolic extracts from leaf, rind, seeds and pulp of H. courbaril Mart. and H. stigonocarpa L. fruits. All extracts were obtained by maceration and concentrated under reduced pressure in rotary evaporator. The method used to evaluate the antioxidant activity was the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method and the antioxidant activity of the extracts was calculated as the EC50 concentration. The total phenolic content of the extract was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu test. Quantification was carried out on the basis of the standard curve of commercial gallic acid, and the concentration of total phenolic compounds was expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g of dry extract. The flavonoids content was determined by the ultraviolet-visible spectrometry method and calculated from the standard curve of rutin and the results were expressed as mg of rutin equivalents (RE)/g of dry extract. All determinations were performed in triplicate. Among the various extracts evaluated, the hydroethanolic extract of the seed of H. courbaril L. presented the maximum contents of total phenolics and total flavonoids (464,34 mg GAE/g of dry extract and 442,25 mg RE/g of dry extract, respectively). This extract also promoted high DPPH scavenging activity (EC50 = 149,43 (µg/mL). According to the results obtained, extracts with higher antioxidant capacity also has higher total phenolic and flavonoids.