Estudo químico e biológico de Coccoloba mollis Casareto (1844) e Triplaris americana Linnaeus (Polygonaceae)

Abstract

This work describes the chemical and biological studies carried out using two species of plants, which belongs to the Polygonaceae family: Coccoloba mollis Casaretto (1844) and Triplaris americana Linnaeus. The study aimed to monitoring the antioxidant (DPPH, total phenolic content, reduction power by Fe3+-Fe2+ and total oxidation by FTC method), anticholinesterasic and larvicidal (4th larval instars of the Aedes aegypti) activities of extracts and isolated compounds from C. mollis and T. americana. Phytochemical investigation of some extracts with promising results in at least one of the activities mentioned above of C. mollis lead to the isolation of two phytosteroids (sitosterol and sitostenone), a diterpene (transphytol), a triterpene (simiarenol) and a benzenoid (vanilic acid); while from T. americana were isolated two benzenoids (gallic acid and protocatechuic acid methyl ester), a phenetylamide (moupinamide), a phenylpropanoid derivative (vanicoside D), two phytosteroids (sitosterol and sitostenone), two flavonols (quercetin and 3-O-α-arabinofuranosylquercetin) and two triterpenes (friedelin and friedelinol). In general, these results have been contributed to extend the chemiotaxonomic profile of the genera Coccoloba and Triplaris, and as a consequence it increased the knowledge of the Polygonaceae. These compounds were identified on the basis of spectroscopic analyses (IR, MS and NMR, including DEPT, APT, COSY, HSQC and HMBC). Regarding the to antioxidant assays, fractions from fruits, leaves, stem and roots of T. americana showed comparable results to those presented by the standards (α-tocopherol, BHT and ascorbic acid). From active fractions extracts of the fruits were isolated four compounds that were also active (gallic acid, vanicoside D, quercetin and 3-O-α- arabinofuranosylquercetin). The qualitative assays used to demonstrate the inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase by fractions from partition and filtration on silica gel of C. mollis (bark, leaves and stem) and of T. americana (fruits, leaves, stem and roots) showed positive results as well. Chromatographic guided-fractionation of some these fractions resulted in the isolation of seven compounds five of them (sitosterol, vanilic acid, gallic acid, protocatechuic acid methyl ester and vanicoside D) showed positive results. In the assays against 4th larval instars of the Aedes aegypti, the fractions promising more were derived from hexane extracts of stem, leaves and bark of C. mollis and from stem and roots, as well as EtOAc sub-fraction from the CHCl3 extract of fruits of T. americana. Conclusion, these results presented data that can be used in further studies.