Panorama of quality of Espinheira-Santa samples from local productive arrangements and local stores of Rio De Janeiro assayed by pharmacopoeial methods and principal component analysis

Abstract

The specific legislation for the production and use of medicinal plants has been improved in Brazil, as far as its continuous evolution is concerned. However, there is still a failure at surveillance quality of these products. This work showed a panorama of some espinheira-santa samples (Maytenus ilicifolia) purchased from local markets, through moisture, contaminants, epicatechin and total tannin content. Contaminants were found above the maximum limits admitted in 89 % of the total samples (stems, mosses and lichens) above allowable. Regarding water content, only samples 24, 25 and 27, all from group 3, proved to be outside official limits, which must be within 8 and 12 %. For tannin a variation from 0.18 to 2.96 % could be detected (official minimum limit must be 2 %) and, for epicatechin (pharmacopoeial marker), only 37 % of total samples showed its presence, as analyzed by TLC and HPLC. Three main groups were established by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), after laboratory assays. Group 2 with the highest amounts of the characteristic metabolites epicatechin and total tannin, suggested authentic samples. Group 1 and 3 with high level of moisture and contaminants suggested false samples. These results may, in part, suggest that possible deleterious effects caused by the consumption of espinheira-santa available on the market, could be due to the unconformities observed in the analyzed samples.