Discrimination of genotypes coffee by chemical composition of the beans: Potential markers in natural coffees.

The chemical composition of coffee beans varies according to the cultivar used, but there is little information about the differences among them resulting in different sensory profiles. The purpose was to find potential chemical markers to discriminate genealogical groups of coffee using regression analysis by partial least squares. Twenty-two accessions of C. arabica were used with two repetitions each. There were chromatographic and physical-chemical analyses to determine the composition of raw beans and chemometric analysis as the PCA and the PLS-DA. The analysis of PCA did not showed detailed information about the differences between the groups. The model PLS-DA identified the most important variables in the discrimination of the genealogical groups. Arachidic acid and stearic acid the markers for the Bourbon group; the myristic and linoleic acids and sucrose for the Exotic group; and lauric, palmitoleic and oleic acids, and the protein content to the Timor Hybrid group.

Evaluation of anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic and antiproliferative activities of Arrabidaea chica crude extracts.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Arrabidaea chica (Bignoniacea) has been used in popular medicine in Brazil to treat inflammation, skin diseases and leukemia. This work aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antitumoral activities of the A. chica aqueous (AE) and ethanol (EE) extracts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The murine sponge model was used to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic activities of AE and EE. Accumulation of neutrophil and macrophage in the implants were determined by assaying myeloperoxidase and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activities and the neovascularization evaluated by the amount of hemoglobin present in the implant using the Drabkin method. The antitumoral activity was evaluated using the MTT colorimetric method against Jurkat, HL60 and MCF-7 cells. Semi-purified fractions F1-F4 from the EE extract were obtained by a liquid-liquid solvent extraction method and their in vitro anti-proliferative effects were also investigated. RESULTS: Ethanol and aqueous extracts of A. chica decreased neutrophil accumulation and hemoglobin content in the sponge implants without altering the level of cytokines (IL-2, IL- 4, IL-5, IFN-γ, TNF-α and VEGF) and the albumin/globulin ratio in the serum of treated animals. There was no sign of toxicity (clinical, laboratory or histopathology). The ethanol extract presented antiproliferative activity (IC50 21.5-36.3 µg/mL) against HL60 and Jurkat cell lineages and proapoptotic activity at 50 µg/mL in HL60 cells. The fraction F1 also demonstrated significant antiproliferative activity (IC50 38.5 µg/mL) and proapoptotic activity against HL60 cells in a dose dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Aqueous and ethanol extracts of A. chica attenuate the inflammatory and angiogenic components of the subcutaneous fibrovascular tissue induced by the synthetic matrix in mice. In addition, the ethanol extract from Arrabidaea chica and its fraction F1 presented in vitro antiproliferative activity and could be useful for developing potential chemopreventive substances.