Flavonoid quantitative HPLC-DAD analysis of Petiveria alliacea

Abstract

Petiveria alliacea L. (Petiveriaceae), a medicinal plant found in tropical regions of South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa, is mainly used to treat inflammatory process and respiratory problems. In this study, we have evaluated the antibacterial activity of P. alliacea crude extract and fractions, investigated the chemical composition, and developed and validated a simple method to quantify flavanones. To verify the antibacterial activity, we determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Phytochemical investigations were carried out by chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis. To quantify astilbin and engeletin, we developed a method based on HPLC coupled to a diode array detector (DAD) and validated it. The P. alliacea crude extracts and fractions exhibited MIC ranged from 10 to 25 mg/mL. Chemical investigation of P. alliacea revealed the presence of trans-N-methyl-4-methoxyproline (1), ethyl-β-galactoside (2), ethyl-α-galactoside (3), and ethyl-β-fructofuranoside (4). The developed HPLC-DAD method proved suitable for determining flavonoids in P. alliacea: it presented good linearity, specificity, and satisfactory accuracy and precision. The developed HPLC-DAD method can quantify the P. alliacea chemical markers. The isolated compounds (2–4) have been described in P. alliacea for the first time.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Antibacterial
• astilbin
• engeletin
• petiveriaceae

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge funding by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq grant # 303174/2021-8), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, # 001), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, 2021/05175-0, 2017/24860-0, and 2016/10313-4). We thank the company Homeopatia Brasil for financial support of the biological tests. MG thanks CNPq (grant # 311969/2019-4), FAPESP (grants #2016/06260-2 and #2022/12597-0), the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT - Small Collection Grants, rounds 2021, and 2022), and INCT – Herbário Virtual da Flora e dos Fungos (grant #465420/2014 − 1).

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interests in the present study.

Data availability

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the Supplementary Material. Further inquiries are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge funding by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq grant # 303174/2021-8), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, # 001), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, 2021/05175-0, 2017/24860-0, and 2016/10313-4). We thank the company Homeopatia Brasil for financial support of the biological tests. MG thanks CNPq (grant # 311969/2019-4), FAPESP (grants #2016/06260-2 and #2022/12597-0), the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT - Small Collection Grants, rounds 2021, and 2022), and INCT – Herbário Virtual da Flora e dos Fungos (grant #465420/2014 − 1).