Antioxidant activity, total flavonoids and volatile constituents of Magonia Pubescens A.St.-Hil

Abstract

Magonia pubescens A.St.-Hil (Sapindaceae) (‘tingui’) is a typical medicinal plant of the Cerrado biome. This plant is used as a larvicide and employed in poison fishing. However, little is known of its secondary metabolites. In this study, it is described for the first time as the volatile constituents of M. pubescens, collected via headspace. Qualitative phytochemical analyses were performed. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the ethanol extracts of flowers and leaves were evaluated, and the total flavonoids were quantified. The ethanol extracts of flowers (12.67 ± 0.05 rutin equivalent (EQ) g-1) and leaves (11.81 ± 0.05 rutin EQ g-1). The leaf extracts exhibited higher IC50 values (18.14 ± 0.02 rutin EQ g-1) than did the flower extracts (31.19 ± 0.05 rutin EQ g-1). Twenty volatile compounds were identified in M. pubescens flowers through gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), being identified as benzilic acid (17.9%) and styrene (13.9%) as the major compounds. The antioxidant activity of M. pubescens could be related to the presence of flavonoids and tannins, but further studies need to be conducted to fully understand that correlation. The identified volatiles have the potential to be used in the cosmetics industry due to their socio-economic relevance, and the may also contribute to the understanding of the reproductive success of this species.