Flavonoids, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial activity of Myrcia rufipila mcvaugh leaves (myrtaceae)

Abstract

This paper reports the first chemical study of the non-volatile compounds, antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial effect of the methanol extract of the leaves of Myrcia rufipila McVaugh. Samples of the leaves were collected in Maracanã Municipality, Pará, Brazil. The chemical investigation led to the identification of the triterpenoids β- and α-amyrin, the flavonoids 4'-O-galloyldihydromyricetin, myricetin, myricitrin, desmantin-I, myricetin-3-O-(3"-O-galloyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside and isovitexin, in addition to gallic acid. The methanol extract showed antioxidant capacity (>90%) against DPPH radical (IC₅₀ 356.3 ± 3.1 μg.mL⁻¹) and was active only at high concentrations against the tested microorganisms, including the chloramphenicol resistant E. coli CCMB261 and S. aureus CCMB285 and a nystatin resistant C. parapsilosis CCMB 288. This study shows that M. rufipila, like other Myrcia species, is another source of flavonoids such as desmantin-I and myricitrin which have shown hypoglycemic potential, besides triterpenes and phenolic acids.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Myrcia rufipila
• flavonoids
• desmantin-I
• triterpenoids
• antimicrobial
• antioxidant

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by [Programa de Capacitação Institutional (MCTIC/MPEG] under Grant [312854/2016-1], CAPES for fellowship. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico;Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior.