Bioactive properties and phytochemical assessment of Bacupari-anão (Garcinia brasiliensis Mart.) leaves native to Rondônia, Brazil

Abstract

Leaf fractions of Garcinia brasiliensis were evaluated concerning their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties, and the most active fraction was then fully characterized regarding its phenolic composition using HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn. The ethyl acetate fraction from partitioning of the methanolic leaf extract revealed a strong antioxidant activity that was comparable to Trolox, the positive control. This fraction was also able to show a significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and the fungus Candida albicans. However, the dichloromethane fraction was found to present the highest anti-inflammatory (83 ± 9 μg mL⁻¹) and cytotoxic activities, thus presenting slight toxicity using a non-tumor cell line. Regarding the phenolic profile, the ethyl acetate fraction presented twelve flavonoids, with morelloflavone-7′′-O-glucoside (52.1 ± 0.4 mg g⁻¹) and gardinia biflavonoid 2a glucoside (27.5 ± 0.2 mg g⁻¹) being the major compounds identified. These results indicate that leaves of G. brasiliensis might be a potential source of natural biomolecules for pharmaceutical and medicinal applications.