Estudo fitoquímico e de resgate tradicional do potencial terapêutico da casca e folhas da Commiphora leptophloeos.

Abstract

Plants have been used by humans since the dawn of time for various functions, one of which is the treatment of diseases. Therefore, knowledge about the therapeutic use of different plant species is passed on in different communities over time. An example of a plant popularly used in health promotion is Commiphora leptophloeos, a species native to the Brazilian Northeast. Considering this traditional practice, this work aims to investigate the bioactive potential through the phytochemical characterization of the bark and leaves of C. leptophloeos. For this, after collection and production of the plant exsiccate, hydroethanolic extracts of the bark and leaves were carried out to identify the secondary metabolite groups present in each of the preparations through colorimetric tests. The concentration of gallic acid, the standard chosen for the method of quantification by adding a standard with formation of a calibration curve, was also quantitatively performed, in addition to performing a preliminary test of hemolytic activity. Thus, it was possible to obtain extracts with a yield of 8% for the bark and 6% for the leaves. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, polyphenols, tannins, terpenes and saponins in the leaves and polyphenols, tannins and terpenes in the bark. In addition, the quantification of the chemical marker resulted in an initial concentration of the standard of 25.17mg/mL in the leaf extract and 40.15mg/mL in the bark extract. And, among the biological activities discussed from the indicated compounds, the plant can present antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial action. The preliminary test of hemolysis potential was negative for each of the extracts. Finally, due to the reduced amount of analysis about this species, the work contributed to the scientific proof and valorization of this popular use in health promotion. Thus, it is necessary to continue the studies related to C. leptophloeos.