Biological activity of Hyptis Jacq. (Lamiaceae) is determined by the environment

Abstract

The evolution of plant special metabolites is currently viewed within a phylogenetic perspective: the biosynthetic machinery needed to produce plant defense must be well-conserved and this origin should be monophyletic. But some questions thus arise: does a species occurring in different biogeographic domains present different levels of special metabolites? And if so, will it also represent a difference in its biological activity? For this study, seven Hyptis (Lamiaceae) species was collected and extracted by maceration in 70% ethanol, analyzed by highperformance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) and performing antioxidants assays: DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,20-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity, Iron (III) reduction to iron (II) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Phenolic classes observed for Hyptis spp. were: phenolic acids, flavonoids, chlorogenic acid derivatives, and cinnamic acid derivatives. Results point out to a tendency of Hyptis populations growing at Cerrado domain present lower levels of phenolic compounds when compared to populations growing at Atlantic Forest. Furthermore, the abiotic microenvironment seems to exert a stronger influence regarding the phenolic composition and consequently the antioxidant activity of a plant extract than the phytogeographic domain.