Abstract
Spondias tuberosa Arruda (Anacardiaceae) is an endemic tree in the Caatinga Brazilian Biome, known locally as umbuzeiro and used for various purposes, especially as food and folk medicine. In this study, it was realized for the first time, the extraction and characterization by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of the fixed oils of barks, leaves and stems of S. tuberosa. The constituents of the oils were identified by comparing the mass spectra obtained with those of the equipment database. The major component of fixed oil obtained from barks was the 3-n-Pentadecylphenol (44.91 %), in the leaves and stems was observed presence of the tetratetracontane (38.17 and 28.57%, respectively). Antioxidant activity was evaluated by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging and β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching test. The fixed oil obtained from the leaves presented the best antioxidant activity (51.13%±11.8) in β-carotene-linoleic acid bleaching test. This study described for the first time identification and quantification of the components present in the fixed oils of the bark, leaves and stems of Spondias tuberosa. Key words: Natural products, fatty acids, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), antioxidant.
Highlights
Brazil has the largest diversified forest reserve on the planet, which allows the search of new medicinal plants and their active principles with pharmaceutical and food applicability (Santos and Torres, 2012)
From the chromatogram analysis of the fixed oil obtained from the leaves (FOL) were observed (Figure 2) the presence of 16 different constituents
The main constituents of the oil derived from the leaves was hydrocarbons n-tetratetracontane (38.17%) and 2,2Dimethyl-3-vinyl-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (13.53%)
Summary
Brazil has the largest diversified forest reserve on the planet, which allows the search of new medicinal plants and their active principles with pharmaceutical and food applicability (Santos and Torres, 2012). Previous studies described interesting pharmacological activities of fixed oils derived from plants and herbs used in traditional medicine, including antimutagenic, antiinflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties (Ashaala et al, 2010; Oliveira et al, 2010; Singh et al, 2007; Lv et al, 2012). Among the main causes of food quality deterioration is lipid peroxidation and the result of this peroxidation is the formation of reactive oxygen species and free radicals (Roby et al, 2013). One way to combat such oxidizing agents is to use antioxidant agents in foods to retard the formation of toxic products formed in the oxidation process, thereby maintaining nutritional quality and increasing the shelf life of food products (Maisuthisakul et al, 2007)
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