Comparing Conventional and Supercritical Extraction of (−)-Mammea A/BB and the Antioxidant Activity of Calophyllum brasiliense Extracts

Renata Gonçalves,Celso Nakamura,Lúcio Cardozo-Filho,Edson Da Silva,Ivana Leal,Vladimir Cabral,Caroline Lemos,Diógenes Cortez

doi:10.3390/molecules18066215

Abstract

Calophyllum brasiliense is a rich source of bioactive coumarins, xanthones and biflavonoids. The aim of the study was to compare the phenol contents and the antioxidant activity of C. brasiliense extracts obtained by conventional and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) methods, as well as the quantification of crude extracts and (−)-mammea A/BB yields. Dichloromethane and hexane were used as solvents for the conventional extractions and SFE was developed using supercritical CO2; the kinetic curves were modeled using a second-order empirical model. The dichloromethane extract presented the best total yield, although it showed the lowest content of (−)-mammea A/BB. The concentration of the coumarin was considerably higher in extracts obtained by the supercritical fluid method and a higher antioxidant activity was assigned to extracts obtained by this technique. Concerning the total phenolic contents, both the dichloro-methane and the supercritical extractions produced satisfactory amounts. The SFE method proved to be more promising than conventional methods.

Highlights

The genus Calophyllum (Clusiaceae/Guttiferae) comprises an extensive group of tropical trees with approximately 180–200 species restricted to the hot and humid tropics [1]
Calophyllum brasiliense leaves extracts obtained by supercritical extraction presented lower total yields but higher quantities of the compound (−)-mammea A/BB when compared to the extracts obtained by the Soxhlet method
The supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) method used for the extraction of (−)-mammea

Summary

Introduction

The genus Calophyllum (Clusiaceae/Guttiferae) comprises an extensive group of tropical trees with approximately 180–200 species restricted to the hot and humid tropics [1]. Ethnopharmacological studies have already reported the use of this species against bronchitis, gastritis, hepatitis [9], pain [10], inflammations, diabetes, hypertension [11], diarrhea [12] and herpes [13]. It is one of the most studied species due to its biological activities, with special attention to the antibacterial [14,15,16], antifungal [14], cytotoxic [16], tumor inhibitory [17], and HIV-1 IIIb/LAV replication inhibitory, which are attributed to the leaves, stems and roots extracts [18]. Extracts and fractions of its leaves have demonstrated leishmanicidal effects against promastigotes and amastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis [19,20], as well as antiviral activity [21]

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