Chromatographic fingerprinting and biological activity of different Byrsonima species

The tropical family of Malpighiaceae comprises 65 genera and about 1,250 species, with 32 genera and 300 species occurring in Brazil [1]. This family is known by its antimicrobial activity, commonly related to triterpenes, alkaloids and phenolic compounds. Byrsonima is the largest genus of this family, and comprises species of medicinal importance, ornamental plants, and producers of edible fruits. This work involves the chromatographic analysis and the evaluation of the antioxidant capacity by DPPH and piranine based methods [2] of six methanolic extracts from different species of Byrsonima (B. intermedia, B. coccolobifolia, B. verbascifolia and B. sericea). The extracts were prepared with solvents of increasing polarity (hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol), and the methanol extracts were subjected to bioassays. All extracts presented antioxidant capacity, ranging from 13.8% to 43.8% of DPPH radical scavenging at 4 µg/mL. The percentage of scavenged peroxyl radical by piranine based procedure varied between 64.4% and 100.4% at 3 µg/mL, and the highest antioxidant activity was observed for a B. intermedia extract (EC50 of 1.54 µg/mL). HPLC-DAD analysis showed the presence of high amounts of flavonoids, which may be responsible for the antioxidant activity. A B. intermedia sample collected in the riparian forest presented a lower antioxidant capacity than a sample collected in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. These results were in accordance with the HPLC profiles, in which two intense peaks with the maximum absorption at 275nm were observed exclusively in the most active extract.

Acknowledgements: CNPq, FAPESP.

Keywords: Byrsonima, antioxidant activity, chromatographic fingerprinting

References:

[1] Costa, C.B. et al. (2006) Rev. Bras. Botânica, 29: 103 – 114.

[2] Campos, A. M. et al. (2004) Biol. Res. 2004, 37, 287 – 292.