Chemical Profiling and Cosmetic Potential from Anacardium humile and Anacardium occidentale

Abstract

Anacardium humile St. Hil. and A. occidentale L. are Brazilian species of nutritional and economic importance, but their pseudofruits─especially A. humile─are underexplored. This study chemically profiles ethanolic extracts from mixed pseudofruits of both species, collected from two Goiás regions, and evaluates their cosmeceutical potential. Chemical profiling was primarily performed by HPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS combined with GNPS molecular networking, yielding putative annotations, while 1H NMR provided complementary chemical fingerprinting. Nine compounds were annotated by LC-MS/MS, mainly glycosylated flavonoids (quercetin and myricetin derivatives), together with a disaccharide and an anacardic acid. In addition, the 1H NMR spectra of the ethyl acetate fractions showed signals that support the presence of p-coumaric acid. The crude extracts showed low cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells (IC50 = 41.330 ± 1.618 mg/mL for AHB, 0.891 ± 0.079 mg/mL for AHK), with additional PrestoBlue data supporting safety. Enzyme assays revealed moderate elastase inhibition (up to 48.4 ± 4.0% at 100 μg/mL) and low tyrosinase inhibition (≈9%). The extracts also exhibited strong UV absorption (<300 nm) and photostability after UV exposure (254 and 363 nm for 8 h). These results suggest that Anacardium pseudofruits, with their flavonoid, hydroxycinnamate, and carotenoid profiles, are promising for antiaging/photoprotective applications.