Contribuição ao conhecimento químico e de atividades biológicas dos frutos das espécies Carapa guianensis e Carapa procera (Meliaceae)

Abstract

In Brazil, the species Carapa guianensis Aublet. and Carapa procera DC are known as andiroba. In the Amazon region, andiroba oil is considered medicinal and used primarily as an anti-inflammatory. The fruits of these species were collected and separated (seeds, peels seeds and pericarp) and separately extracted with different solvents in order of increasing polarity. From the seeds of the species C. guianensis were isolated the mixture of the limonoids 6α-acetoxygedunin and 7-deacetoxy-7-oxogedunin, and the mixture of the limonoids 7-deacetylgedunin and 6α-acetoxy-7-deacetylgedunin (first time isolated in the fruits of andiroba), and also those same limonoids were isolated separately. The hexane extract of the pericarp of the same species were isolated limonoids methyl angolensate and 6-hydroxy-methyl angolensate (first time described in the species). For comparison purposes, a method in HPLC/DAD was developed for quantification of the limonoids isolated in samples of extracts from different parts of the fruit of the two species. Two commercial samples of andiroba oil produced in the traditional way were also analyzed. The results of analyzes of the extracts obtained in the samples of both species showed the accumulation of almost all the limonoids in the seeds oil, and the limonoid 7-deacetylgedunin can be used as a chemical marker for the differentiation between species. The analysis of samples of commercial andiroba oil produced in the traditional way for method developed in HPLC / DAD showed differences in concentrations of limonoids analyzed. The extracts of the two species were assayed for larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, in which the precipitate from the oil of C. guianensis was the most interesting with an LC50= 36.9 ± 1.0 mg/mL. In the inhibition assay of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase showed inhibition of almost all limonoids and extracts tested, except the limonoid 7-deacetoxy-7-oxogedunin. These results are first time described in the literature for andiroba and are quite promising.