Abstract
In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in interest in natural therapies. In this way, plants with therapeutic properties constitute an important source of biologically active compounds. The species Protium spruceanum (Benth.) Engl., popularly known as Almescla is widely used in folk medicine, with a wide geographical distribution, often found in gallery forests and palm swamps (veredas), thus easily accessible. The objective of this work was to evaluate the oil yield of the leaves and stem, as well as the chemical composition of Almescla resin collected in a palm swamp in the north-central region of Minas Gerais. After drying, the botanical samples were triturated until a fine powder was obtained and the particle size of the leaf sample standardized through sieves. The test was carried out in triplicate, the oil being obtained from the hot extraction method in Soxhlet with solvent Hexane P.A. The resin was subjected to chromatographic analysis and infrared spectroscopy, by the preparation of KBr pellets (1% m/m). For the leaf sample, an average yield of 3.33% was obtained and for the stem, an average yield of 1.40%. The resin had the major chemical compound α-phellandrene (58.18-71.25%). It is concluded that, Almescla has a great oil yield, and the chemical analysis showed that the species has a great medicinal potential to be exploited.
Highlights
Natural products derived from plants have been an alternative source of drugs (Tulp & Bohlin, 2004)
Products of secondary metabolism, are natural, volatile and complex (Machado & Fernandes Junior, 2011). These compounds are formed by various constituents such as terpene hydrocarbons, alkaloids, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, esters, oxides, peroxides, furans, organic acids, lactones, coumarins and even sulfur compounds (Silveira, Busato, Costa, & Costa Junior, 2012)
Stems of the terminal branches and Almescla resin were collected in September 2016, in a palm swamp located in the municipality of Buenópolis, north-central region of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Summary
Natural products derived from plants have been an alternative source of drugs (Tulp & Bohlin, 2004). These products have great structural and chemical diversity that can be used as prototype or model for more specific and efficient drug synthesis (Lang et al, 2008). Products of secondary metabolism, are natural, volatile and complex (Machado & Fernandes Junior, 2011). These compounds are formed by various constituents such as terpene hydrocarbons, alkaloids, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, esters, oxides, peroxides, furans, organic acids, lactones, coumarins and even sulfur compounds (Silveira, Busato, Costa, & Costa Junior, 2012). Fungicidal action and medicinal properties, in folk medicine are used as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and food preservation, among other actions (Bakkali, Averbeck, Averbeck, & Idaomar, 2008)
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