Investigação fitoquímica e atividade biológica das cascas de Luehea speciosa willd

Abstract

The barks of Luehea speciosa, family Malvaceae, are used in traditional medicine to treat dysentery, rheumatism, tumors, bronchitis, skin wounds, weight loss and others diseases. However, studies give little information about the species in the literature. Thus, it is of great interest to investigate its chemical constitution and biological activities, since the scientific proof of its activity can promote, in the future, a therapeutic alternative. The present study analyzed the chemical constitution of the dry crude extract (EBS) and hexane (FHX), dichloromethane (FDM), ethyl acetate (AED) and methanolic (FME) fractions of the species by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with tandem mass spectrometric - LC/MS, as well as its antioxidant activities by bioautography and cytotoxic assays, in vitro, against HELA, HEP-2 and VERO tumor cell lines. The samples showed antioxidant activity, being the fractions FDM and AED results more relevant. The EBS and fractions demonstrated cytotoxicity on all cell lines, however the FDM fraction had greater cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. In the LC/MS analyzes, were detected phenolic compounds and suggestive characteristics of chicoric acid presence through m/z = 148, as in the UV spectrum. These results demonstrate that this species has antioxidant activity and suggest its cytotoxicity against tumor cells, being a promising species for future studies.