ESTUDO DA COMPOSIÇÃO QUÍMICA, VARIAÇÃO SAZONAL E ATIVIDADE BIOLÓGICA DO ÓLEO ESSENCIAL DE Cardiopetalum calophyllum

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of the essential oil extracted from leaves, flowers and fruits of Cardiopetalum calophyllum and trypanocidal activity, beyond the influence of seasonality on content and the chemical composition of the essential oil of leaves. The essential oils extraction was performed using a technique of hydrodistillation clevenger apparatus and identification of constituents by GC-MS analysis. The trypanocidal activity was evaluated on trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi, analyzing the percentage of parasitic lysis and the cytotoxic activity was evaluated on fibroblasts and determined by the MTT method. The essential oil content showed significant differences between the seasons, with higher production from September/14 to January/15. In the chromatographic analysis, spathulenol sesquiterpenes and viridiflorol were identified as major constituents of the essential oil from leaves, the germacrene-D sesquiterpenes and germacrene-B in the essential oil of flowers and hydrocarbon sesquiterpenes germacrene-D, germacrene-B and oxygenated spathulenol in essential oil key extracted from the fruit. The relative proportion of the compounds in the essential oil of leaves varied according seasonality. The major compounds spathulenol, viridiflorol and germacrene-D, showed higher level in the months of March/14 (28.78%), June/14 (10.93%) and October/14 (15.6%) respectively. The differences possibly occur due to climate change, rainfall and phenological stage of C. calophyllum. The essential oils from leaves, flowers and fruits showed moderate trypanocidal activity with IC50 = 59.95; 48.75 and 132.61 µg mL-1 and less cytotoxicity than benzonidazole with CC50 = 698.3; 220.3 and 150.9 µg mL-1 , respectively. The effectiveness of the essential oil of flowers and leaves was considered moderate in the fight against T. cruzi. This paper describes for the first time the essential oil chemical composition of leaves, flowers and fruits of C. calophyllum, contributing significantly to the chemical knowledge of the species and its biological activity against the causative agent of Chagas disease.