Phytoalexins are compounds that have been studied a few years ago, which present mainly antimicrobial activity. The plants of the family

Punicalagin, the principal ellagitannin of Lafoensia pacari leaves, has proven antioxidant activity, and standardized extracts of L. pacari can be topically used for skin aging management. We hypothesized that Pluronic nanomicelles or vesicles could solubilize sufficiently large amounts of the standardized extracts of L. pacari and provide chemical stability to punicalagin. The standardized extracts of L. pacari were obtained with an optimized extraction procedure, and the antioxidant activity was characterized. Formulations containing Pluronic at 25% and 35% were obtained with or without Span 80. They were characterized by average diameter, polydispersity index, punicalagin content, physicochemical stability, and rheology. A release and skin permeation study was carried out in vertical diffusion cells. The extraction procedure allowed quantifying high punicalagin content (i.e., 141.61 ± 3.87 mg/g). The standardized extracts of L. pacari showed antioxidant activity for all evaluated methods. Pluronic at 25 and Pluronic at 35 with standardized extracts of L. pacari showed an average diameter of about 25 nm. The addition of Span 80 significantly increased the mean diameter by 15-fold (p < 0.05), indicating the spontaneous formation of vesicles. Pluronic formulations significantly protected punicalagin from chemical degradation (p < 0.05). Pluronic at 25 formulations presented as free-flowing liquid-like systems, while Pluronic at 35 resulted in an increase of about 44-fold in |ƞ*|. The addition of Span 80 significantly reduced the Pluronic sol-gel transition temperature (p < 0.05), indicating the formation of vesicles. Formulations with Span 80 significantly enhanced punicalagin skin permeation compared to formulations without Span 80 (p < 0.05). Formulations with Span 80 were demonstrated to be the most promising formulations, as they allowed significant permeation of punicalagin (about 80 to 315 µg/cm2), which has been shown to have antioxidant activity.

Costus spiralis is a Brazilian native plant used in popular medicine, but the safety of this therapeutic use needs investigation. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the cytogenotoxic and antigenotoxic effects of C. spiralis leaves or stems aqueous extracts on Allium cepa root cells. Moreover, a phytochemical screening and an antioxidant and antifungal activities evaluation were performed. C. spiralis aqueous extracts presented cytotoxicity, but no mutagenicity was observed. When the antigenotoxicity was evaluated, C. spiralis leaves aqueous extract presented preventive and modulatory effects on A. cepa root cells, reducing the sodium azide cytogenotoxic effects. In contrast, C. spiralis stems aqueous extract enhanced the sodium azide cytogenotoxicity in some conditions. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenolic compounds in C. spiralis. When total phenolic content was determined, the leaves presented 73% more phenolic content than stems. Corroborating this data, C. spiralis leaves antioxidant potential was 30% higher than C. spiralis stems. However, these extracts did not present antifungal activity against Candida spp. In conclusion, empirical utilization of C. spiralis aqueous extracts should be avoided. Moreover, the cytotoxic effect of C. spiralis leaves and stems can play an important role in anticancer therapy and must be deeply studied.

Mulberry (Morus spp.) is an evergreen tree belonging to the Moraceae family. The genus Morus has numerous described species, including Morus nigra, an important plant in agriculture and traditional cultures. The objective of this study was to conduct a scientometric research on the species M. nigra. Bibliographic data was been obtained from the Web of Science database considering two times periods. These analyzes showed that research involving M. nigra is concentrated in the areas of nutrition, pharmacology and agronomy science. Eastern countries and Brazil are the largest producers of knowledge about M. nigra. The research has shown different interests in recent decades, showing that the scientific knowledge produced about the species is associated with the objective for which the plant was used throughout history. There is a trend in the growth of publications focused on the potential antioxidant of M. nigra products. The articles had a greater impact factor in the past, however, a significant growth trend in research with M. nigra in the last three years, also suggested by the increase in the number of publications in the period. Understanding the publication standards assist in directing future research as well as in understanding the current panorama of research associated with the species.

O uso de plantas medicinais é amplamente comum, sobretudo, pelo conhecimento tradicional. Dentre as espécies medicinais, a Dorstenia brasiliensis é importante por apresentar furanocumarinas, sendo este um matabólito secundário relacionado a várias funções terapêuticas. Contudo, ainda não existem relatos sobre o cultivo ou mesmo relação da adubação na produção desta espécie. O trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a formação de furanocumarinas e os pesos, seco e verde, dos rizomas na cultura de Carapiá (Dorstenia brasiliensis), nas condições edafoclimáticas de Palmeiras de Goiás sob o efeito de diferentes fontes de adubação. O experimento foi realizado no município de Palmeiras de Goiás, na Universidade Estadual de Goiás – Câmpus Palmeiras de Goiás, no período de novembro de 2017 a agosto de 2018. Foi adotado o delineamento inteiramente casualizado com 3 tratamentos e 10 repetições. As variáveis testadas foram as fontes de adubação esterco bovino, organomineral e mineral. Quando analisada a relação da influência das fontes de adubação ao peso verde e peso seco não houve diferença significativa entre os tratamentos, concluindo a não interferência da adubação para estes fatores. Com relação a interferência da adubação nos teores de psoraleno, todos os tratamentos obtiveram diferença estatística, sendo que as fontes de adubação utilizadas resultaram na menor produção deste metabólito. Do mesmo modo, a influência das fontes de adubação nos teores de bergapteno resultou em diferença estatística entre todos os tratamentos, de forma que os tratamentos com adubações apresentaram acréscimo na produção deste composto.