Socratea exorrhiza: potencial bioativo e teores de fenóis e flavonoides

Abstract

Socratea exorrhiza (Mart.) H. Wendland is popularly known as paxiuba. This Arecaceae occurs naturally in the rain forest. It is widely used by the locals and the native Indians of Roraima, however it is not as studied as in regards to its biological and chemical profile. In this work, it was investigated that the extracts of the bioactive potential of the outer and inner parts of the root and of the sprout from the root of S. exorrhiza, by cytotoxic activity tests (Artemia salina Laech), antioxidant (DPPH) and antimicrobial against bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 7002) and with Candida albicans yeast ATCC18804. Among the most active extracts were determined the levels of phenolics and flavonoids by spectrophotometry method. The extraction process was heat by the Soxhlet method, using organic solvents of increasing polarity (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanolic). extracts of the outer part of the root and the sprout from the root stood out on the cytotoxic activity and the antioxidant tests, being the sprout from the root (DL50 473 and IC50 24,03 μg/mL) the most active of the two tests. The positive Action of these two extracts on the biological activities can be related to the presence of flavonoids evidenced by the high content found on the of the outer part of the root extracts 76,8% and sprout from the root 64,66%. The methanolic extracts of the outer part of the root and the sprout from the root demonstrated high inhibitory power before the C. albicans yeast (halos of 18 and 25 mm) respectively. All the sprouts from the root extracts presented moderate inhibitory action against the growth of the Gram-negative E. coli and P. mirabilis bacteria with halos that varied between 10 and 17mm, and the methanolic extracts sprout from the root obtained high inhibitory power on the growth of P. mirabilis (halo 22 mm). The extracts‟ positive action of the outer part of the root and the sprout from the root against Gram-negative bacteria collaborates with the traditional knowledge that advocates the use of the S. exorrhiza roots in popular medicine for the sexually transmitted diseases (STD), which makes even higher the values of the results with these extracts. Another important finding in this work is the new record of occurrence of S. exorrhiza for the state of Roraima.The data herein presented is new and important in advancing knowledge about this palm tree, stimulating the continuity of deeper studies.