Physicochemical characterization of 'Cerrado' cashew (Anacardium othonianum Rizzini) fruits and pseudofruits.

BACKGROUND: The Cerrado occupies 23% of Brazil. A. othonianum is a native Cerrado species that presents differently colored pseudofruits. This report describes the morphometric properties, physicochemical characterization, and phenolic and flavonoid compound compositions of 30 accessions of A. othonianum. RESULTS: The morphometric properties show that an average fruit had 21.97 mm length, 18.61 mm width, and 11.13 mm thickness, with 2.52 g mass. The pseudofruits had 28.84 mm apex width with 12.83 g of mass. The hue parameters of the pseudofruits were 18.67 ± 2.00 and 83.32 ± 1.97° (P < 0.05), reflecting their red to yellow color. The titratable acidity of the accessions was 0.91 ± 0.09 to 3.02 ± 0.02% (P < 0.05), soluble solid content was 9.60 ± 0.17 to 13.47 ± 0.38 °Brix (P < 0.05), and pH ranged from 2.83 ± 0.06 to 3.83 ± 0.06 (P < 0.05). Fourteen flavonoid compounds were identified. The most common compounds in the accessions were vitexin (93% of the accessions), hesperidin (57% of the accessions), epicatechin (34% of the accessions), and kaempferol-3-O-glucoside (30% of the accessions). Cluster analysis generated four groups with the traits ΔE, °h, C, soluble solid content, titratable acidity, pH, total flavonoids, and their identified compounds. CONCLUSIONS: Although all accessions are A. othonianum, there the chemical composition and the physical characteristics of these fruits vary. This is the first report in the literature using wild accessions. Greater disclosure of the species characteristic is interesting because it can increase income for the local population. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of essential oils from leaves and flowers of Eugenia klotzschiana Berg (Myrtaceae).

Many essential oils (EOs) of different plant species possess interesting antimicrobial effects on buccal bacteria and antioxidant properties. Eugenia klotzschiana Berg (pêra-do-cerrado, in Portuguese) is a species of Myrtaceae with restricted distribution in the Cerrado. The essential oils were extracted through the hydrodistillation technique using a modified Clevenger apparatus (2 hours) and chemically characterized by GC-MS. The major compounds were α-copaene (10.6 %) found in oil from leaves in natura, ß-bisabolene (17.4 %) in the essential oil from dry leaves and α-(E)-bergamotene (29.9 %) in oil from flowers. The antioxidant activity of essential oils showed similarities in both methods under analysis (DPPH and ABTS˙+) and the results suggested moderate to high antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), using the microdilution method. MIC values below 400 µg/mL were obtained against Streptococcus salivarius (200 µg/mL), S. mutans (50 µg/mL), S. mitis (200 µg/mL) and Prevotella nigrescens (50 µg/mL). This is the first report of the chemical composition and antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the essential oils of E. klotzschiana. These results suggest that E. klotzschiana, a Brazilian plant, provide initial evidence of a new and alternative source of substances with medicinal interest.

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of essential oils from leaves and flowers of Eugenia klotzschiana Berg (Myrtaceae)

ABSTRACT Many essential oils (EOs) of different plant species possess interesting antimicrobial effects on buccal bacteria and antioxidant properties. Eugenia klotzschiana Berg (pêra-do-cerrado, in Portuguese) is a species of Myrtaceae with restricted distribution in the Cerrado. The essential oils were extracted through the hydrodistillation technique using a modified Clevenger apparatus (2 hours) and chemically characterized by GC-MS. The major compounds were α-copaene (10.6 %) found in oil from leaves in natura, β-bisabolene (17.4 %) in the essential oil from dry leaves and α-(E)-bergamotene (29.9 %) in oil from flowers. The antioxidant activity of essential oils showed similarities in both methods under analysis (DPPH and ABTS˙+) and the results suggested moderate to high antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), using the microdilution method. MIC values below 400 µg/mL were obtained against Streptococcus salivarius (200 µg/mL), S. mutans (50 µg/mL), S. mitis (200 µg/mL) and Prevotella nigrescens (50 µg/mL). This is the first report of the chemical composition and antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the essential oils of E. klotzschiana. These results suggest that E. klotzschiana, a Brazilian plant, provide initial evidence of a new and alternative source of substances with medicinal interest.