Characterization and Cytotoxicity Assessment of the Lipophilic Fractions of Different Morphological Parts of Acacia dealbata.

Cátia S D Oliveira,Armando J D Silvestre,Sónia A O Santos,Judite Resende,Patrícia Moreira,Cláudia M F Pereira,Artur M S Silva,Maria T Cruz

doi:10.3390/ijms21051814

Abstract

Acacia dealbata biomass, either from forest exploitation or from the management of invasive species, can be a strategic topic, namely as a source of high-value compounds. In this sense, the present study aimed at the detailed characterization of the lipophilic components of different morphological parts of A. dealbata and the evaluation of their cytotoxicity in cells representative of different mammals’ tissues. The chemical composition of lipophilic extracts from A. dealbata bark, wood and leaves was evaluated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Terpenic compounds (representing 50.2%–68.4% of the total bark and leaves extracts, respectively) and sterols (60.5% of the total wood extract) were the main components of these extracts. Other constituents, such as fatty acids, long-chain aliphatic alcohols, monoglycerides, and aromatic compounds were also detected in the studied extracts. All the extracts showed low or no cytotoxicity in the different cells tested, demonstrating their safety profile and highlighting their potential to be used in nutraceutical or pharmaceutical applications. This study is therefore an important contribution to the valorization of A. dealbata, demonstrating the potential of this species as a source of high value lipophilic compounds.

Highlights

Acacia dealbata is a woody legume, introduced in Europe in the 18th century, which invaded Atlantic and Mediterranean climates, from Portugal to Italy [1,2,3,4]
The extraction yields obtained for A. dealbata bark and wood are in accordance with those already reported in the literature for these morphological parts (2.00 ± 0.06 and 0.36 ± 0.03%, respectively) [15]
No data have been reported so far concerning the lipophilic extraction yield of A. dealbata leaves, the value obtained is higher than that reported for the hexane extract of A. sinulata leaves [23]

Summary

Introduction

Acacia dealbata (silver wattle or mimosa) is a woody legume, introduced in Europe in the 18th century, which invaded Atlantic and Mediterranean climates, from Portugal to Italy [1,2,3,4]. Fires, and climate changes, leading to increasing areas susceptible to colonization [3] have probably contributed to A. dealbata invasion of many regions This species produces wood suitable for good quality pulp fibers [5,6,7], its industrial applications have been mainly focused on wood for furniture [8], gum, or as a substitute of gum arabic, on bark for tanning production [7,9,10,11], and on flowers for absolute oil production, and in the flavor and perfumes industry [12]. The valorization of this species for high value applications is of major importance for countries where pulp and paper industry has a high impact This industry is increasingly on the alert for waste reduction and recovery of residual forest biomass

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion