Análise do perfil químico e do potencial biológico de espécies de boldo

Abstract

The term “boldo” is commonly used to describe various plant species, such as P. barbatus, P. ornatus, G. amygdalinum and P. boldus, all of which are popularly used to treat digestive disorders. These species have various biological activities, such as antioxidant, anticholinesterase, antimicrobial and allelopathic. The aim of this study was to identify the chemical profile, acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibition potential, antioxidant, allelopathic and antifungal activity of extracts obtained by infusion of the leaves of these species. The chemical analysis was carried out by mass spectrometry (APCI-MS and ESI-MS), while the antioxidant activity was assessed against DPPH- and ABTS+ radicals, the antifungal activity was tested against C. albicans and the allelopathic activity was assessed on lettuce seeds. ESI-MS analysis identified alkaloids characteristic of the P. boldus species, such as N-methyl-coclaurine, Laurolitsine, Isoboldine and N-Methyl-laurotetanine, and APCI-MS identified glycosylated flavonoids in all the boldo species. In terms of antioxidant activity, P. boldus showed the highest antioxidant capacity against ABTS and DPPH radicals, as well as the highest allelopathic activity. The molecular docking studies showed that the majority compounds in the boldo species samples had binding energy values between -9.0 and -10.4 kcal/mol, which was close to or higher than the binding energy of the inhibitor galantamine. The glycosylated flavonoids Luteolin-O-glucoside, identified in the P. ornatus extract, and Apigenin-7-O-glucoside, identified in the G. amygdalinum sample, showed the best AchE inhibition activities in the in silico test. The alkaloid N-methyllaurotetanine showed a binding energy value of -10.2 kcal/mol, making it the best inhibitor of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase among the alkaloids tested. On the other hand, all the samples showed weak antifungal activity against C. albicans. These results suggest that P. boldus has chemical constituents with therapeutic potential not only for digestive disorders, but also for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. However, its medicinais use should be moderate and careful, as it has shown a high phytotoxic capacity against lettuce seeds.