Características fitoquímicas e capacidade antioxidante de Tabebuia caraíba (Caraibeira)

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The use of plants for medicinal purposes has accompanied humans since the first centuries, their use for a long time represented the only source of medicinal material. Native to the Caatinga biome, Tabebuia caraíba is popularly used for its expectorant and antipyretic action. Thus, the present work aims to analyze the phytochemical extract composition of the species, as well as its antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS methods). It was possible to obtain data on the chemical characteristics of three parts (branches, leaves and trunk) of the species, with the presence of flavonoids, catechins, anthocyanidins, triterpenoids, steroids, phenols, tannins and leucoanthocinidines. In the anthocyanins analysis, the leaves obtained the highest result, 5.040 mg/100g of the evaluated sample. The tannins quantification showed a higher result for leaves, with 1506 ppm. In capturing the DPPH radical, a better capacity was obtained for the aqueous extract of the bark, with an IC₅₀ of 112.50 ppm. For the ABTS radical capture methodology, the bark extract in ethanol reached the result of 739.64 µM trolox/g, a high value compared to other studies that used this methodology. The use of two methodologies proved to be effective when none of the hexane extracts showed activity for the DPPH methodology, whereas for the ABTS methodology, it was possible to detect the activity. The tests performed showed important results for the development of studies in the research area in question.

KEYWORDS: Medicinal plants, antioxidants, anthocyanins.