Caracterização química e atividade biológica de extratos aquosos de Brunfelsia cuneifolia J.A. Schmidt (Solanaceae)

Abstract

There is still not a lot of information about the Brunfelsia genus. Its respective chemical composition and possible scientific proofs of its medicinal properties were not deeply researched, even though the use of the species is common in the traditional medicine of Amazonian populations. This study aimed to characterize the Brunfelsia cuneifolia species, grown in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, regarding its chemical composition and biological activity. Hot, cold and ultrasound aqueous extracts of fresh leaves were obtained. The chemical characterization performed by the HPLC determined the presence of phenolic compounds, ferulic acid and rutin in all extracts, with the largest amount presented by the cold extraction method. The HRMS analysis identified the molecular formula of nine substances in different extracts, including the presence of the alkaloid brunfelsamidina in all the extracts. For biological activity, it was possible to correlate the measured antioxidant activity through the reduction of DPPH * with the content of phenolic compounds obtained by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, which exhibited similar response and content in the different forms of extraction. The toxicity of the extracts evaluated through the use of Artemia salina was negative. The obtained results are the first ones presented for the characterization of this species, also contributing to scientific research on the popular applications related to this genus.