Mauritic acid: a new dammarane triterpene from the roots of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae)

Abstract

A new dammarane triterpene named mauritic acid (1) was isolated from the roots of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. The complete structural assignment of this new compound was elucidated from spectroscopic methods. Moreover, this compound was evaluated for its cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines (OVCAR-8, PCM3, NCIH358M and different leukaemia cell strains). The mauritic acid presented significant cytotoxicity against OVCAR-8, PCM3 and NCIH358M cell lines with IC₅₀ 3.02, 2.39 and 6.19 μM, respectively. The triterpenes 1 and 2 were also tested for their antimicrobial activity against 15 strains of microorganisms, including fungi and bacteria, with the best minimal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 50.8 to 203.5 μM.

Keywords::

• antimicrobial activity
• cytotoxic activity
• Mauritia flexuosa; triterpene

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), to Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (FAPEAM), to Coordenação de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES) and to Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) for financial support and scholarships.