Caracterização física, química e botânica do pepino do mato (Ambelania acida Aubl.)

Abstract

Ambelania acida Aubl., known in the Amazon region as pepino do mato, belongs to the Apocynacea family. They are lactescent plants that have important components in their mucilage, they have chemical substances constituted by extensive chains of sugars, which, when joined in groups, form polymers. This mucilage is slimy and extremely sticky. The bush cucumber is used by the Amazonians as food and, in folk medicine, it is used to treat external inflammations, fungicides, wound healing or even as a laxative. It was found that information on the chemical composition of the fruit is very limited, making it difficult to corroborate the medicinal properties of this species, causing it to be devalued due to lack of this knowledge and run the risk of having a reduction in the number of species due to fires and deforestation due to lack of protection. In this way, through this research, the study of the aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of the mucilage of the cucumber pulp was carried out, aiming at the characterization of the chemical composition present in the same, to determine the composition of total phenols, to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of the fruit pulp by different methods such as: free radical scavenging (assay with DPPH.), iron reduction method (FRAP), oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) and the method of radical capture by chemical reaction (ABTS). The fruits for the production of extracts were obtained in the city of Coari-Am, and for the extractions, water and ethanol:water were used, in the proportion 8:2. The analysis of these extracts revealed the presence of important substances in their composition and a considerable antioxidant potential, as well as the phenolic composition. As for total phenols in the aqueous extract, the results expressed in TPC (mg EAG/g ± dp) were 72.64 ± 3.32, while for the hydroalcoholic extract they were 164.59 ± 9.63. With regard to the antioxidant potential, the results in all methods used showed a satisfactory number, being greater than that of some tropical fruits. By the FRAP method, the result of the aqueous extract was 0.483 ± 0.003 expressed in µmol FeSO4/g ± dp. In the ORAC the result was 110.86 ± 70.31 µmol Trolox/g ± dp, in the DPPH method it was obtained 674.17 ± 7.64 µmol Trolox/g ± dp, and in the ABTS the result was 2880.00 ±216.53 µM Trolox/g ± sd. The results of the hydroalcoholic extract of Ambelania acida the TPC detected was 164.59 ± 9.63, mg EAG/ g ± dp considered relevant, especially when compared to other tropical fruits. The antioxidant action also showed good results in the analyzes of the hydroalcoholic extract. In the FRAP method (µmol FeSO4/g ± dp) the result was 0.733 ± 0.011, ORAC (µmol Trolox/g ± dp) was 123.52 ± 70.02. In the DPPH method (µmol Trolox/g ± dp) the result was 1221.76 ±71.92 and the ABTS (µM Trolox/g ± dp) was 3460.00 ± 385.75. Important substances were detected in the HPLC analyses, such as Gallic acid, Citric acid, Catechin, Ellagic acid, Catechin, Ellagic acid, Chlorogenic acid, Sucrose, among others. In this way, we emphasize that new studies of this species can be carried out and new substances with biotechnological potential can be revealed.