O óleo essencial obtido a partir das cascas do caule de Croton urucurana Baillon (Euphorbiaceae) foi analisado por CG e CG-EM. 83 compostos foram identificados, sendo borneol (14,7%), acetato de bornila (5,2%), 1-isopropil-7-metil-4-metileno-1,3,4,5,6,8-hexaidro-2H-naftalen-4a-ol (14,7%), sesquicineol (10,5%) e epóxido de γ-gurjuneno (5,4%) os principais componentes. Para o óleo essencial bruto, foi determinada em 3,21 mg mL -1 a EC 50 no ensaio de atividade antioxidante frente ao radical livre DPPH. A fração do óleo essencial bruto que apresentou atividade antioxidante foi purificada por CCD sobre sílica gel. Análises de CG e CG-EM revelaram que α-bisabolol (38,3%), α-eudesmol (9,3%) e guaiol (8,2%) são os principais componentes da fração antioxidante. A EC 50 medida no teste frente ao DPPH foi de 1,05 mg mL -1 para a fração bioativa. Foi determinada a atividade antimicrobiana do óleo essencial bruto frente a sete bactérias Gram-positivas e Gram-negativas e três fungos. Os valores de CIM medidos variaram de 1,25 a 10,00 mg mL -1 .The essential oil obtained from the stem bark of Croton urucurana Baillon (Euphorbiaceae) was analysed by GC and GC-MS. 83 compounds were identified and borneol (14.7%), bornyl acetate (5.2%), 1-isopropyl-7-methyl-4-methylene-1,3,4,5,6,8-hexahydro-2H-naphthalen-4a-ol (14.7%), sesquicineole (10.5%) and γ-gurjunene epoxide (5.4%) were the main components. The EC 50 value of the crude essential oil in the DPPH free radical scavenging assay was 3.21 mg mL -1 . The fraction of the crude essential oil that presented antioxidant activity was purified by prep-TLC on silica gel. GC and GC-MS analysis revealed that α-bisabolol (38.3%), α-eudesmol (9.3%) and guaiol (8.2%) were the main components of the antioxidant fraction. The EC 50 value measured for the bioactive oil fraction in the DPPH assay was 1.05 mg mL -1 . The antimicrobial activity of the crude essential oil was assayed against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and three yeasts. Measured MIC values ranged from 1.25 to 10.00 mg mL -1 . Keywords:Croton urucurana, essential oil, antioxidant, DPPH assay, antimicrobial acticity IntroductionCroton (Euphorbiaceae) is one of the largest genera of flowering plants, with nearly 1,300 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees that are ecologically prominent and often important elements of secondary vegetation in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. Previous works reported that the essential oils from northeastern Brazilian Croton species, C. zenhtneri, C. nepetaefolius and C. argyrophylloides, exhibited good antioxidant activities. 9 Croton urucurana Baillon (Euphorbiaceae) is a tree commonly found in Paraguay, northern Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay. Three different products from this species are used primarily in folk medicine: the red sap, the stem bark, and the gum exudate. 10 Many pharmacological effects of Croton urucurana have been described in literature, which include wound and ulcer healing, antidiarrhoeic, anticancer, intestinal anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and an...

The chemical composition of the essential oils of Calea clematidea Baker obtained by hydrodistillation of the leaves and flowers was analysed by GC and GC/MS and the oils were assayed for their antifungal activities. The essential oil of the leaves showed a high content of a new natural epoxy terpenoid, named clemateol (ca. 70 %), with minor amounts of o-vanillin (6.5 %), spathulenol (4.2 %), alpha-terpinene (4.0 %), germacrene B (2.9 %), yomogi alcohol (1.8 %), ( E)-caryophylene (1.7 %), m-cymenene (1.6 %), and alpha-gurjunene (1.5 %), while the essential oil of the flowers was characterized by a higher content of thymol methyl ether (ca. 80 %), with minor amounts of clemateol (4.8 %) and o-cymene (4.7 %). The antimicrobial activity of the oils was also evaluated against dermatophytes for their possible use in pharmaceutical preparations for topical applications. The oil of the leaves (MIC > 3.57 mg/ml), clemateol (MIC > 1.52 mg/ml), and the alcohol 2 (MIC > 2.82 mg/ml) showed a moderate antifungal activity against Trichophyton tonsurans, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton menthagrophytes var. i nterdigitale, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum gypseum, Microsporum canis and Microsporum nanum.

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from samples of propolis manufactured in three regions of Rio Grande do Sul State at Brazil, were analyzed through CG, CG-MS and chiral phase gas chromatography (CPGC). These analyses display the presence of samples with elevated essential oil purport, when compared with plants. The yields obtained were until 3.8%. The samples exhibited similar composition, with predominance of the monoterpenes a-pinene (57-63%), b-pinene (12.5-30.8%) and limonene (1.5-11.2%). In chiral analysis of these constituents were observed modifications in the enantiomeric excess of isomers of a-pinene and limonene in relation with source location of the sample, already in the chiral analysis of b-pinene were detected only elevated excess of the enantiomer with the (-) configuration. The antimicrobial activity of the crude essential oil was assayed against five bacteria. The best result was obtained against Staphylococcus aureus.

A bioatividade das frações semipurificadas (hexânica, acetato de etila e etanol-água) do extrato etanólico das partes aérea de S. occidentalis foi avaliada através de ensaios de germinação e de crescimento de Lactuca sativa (alface), Lycopersicon esculentum (tomate), Allium cepa (cebola) e Triticum aestivum (trigo), em laboratório. Foram utilizadas três concentrações (250, 500, 1000 mg L-1) de cada fração e um controle não tratado, com quatro repetições de 50 sementes. Os bioensaios de germinação revelaram que todas as frações atrasaram a germinação de alface, tomate e cebola, e as frações hexânica e acetato de etila reduziram a germinabilidade de tomate e cebola. Nos bioensaios de crescimento, a fração hexânica estimulou o crescimento da raiz e inibiu o crescimento do hipocótilo das eudicotiledôneas. A mesma fração inibiu o crescimento da raiz e do coleóptilo das monocotiledôneas. A fração acetato de etila inibiu o crescimento da raiz das plântulas-alvo e o hipocótilo/coleóptilo de tomate e cebola. A fração etanol-água estimulou o crescimento da raiz de tomate e do hipocótilo de alface e inibiu o crescimento da raiz de cebola e trigo e, também, do coleóptilo de cebola, na concentração de 1000 mg L-1. Nos bioensaios com herbicidas comerciais foram observados efeitos semelhantes àqueles obtidos na germinação pelas frações e no crescimento pelas frações hexânica e acetato de etila. Na cromatografia em camada delgada, foram detectados terpenos na fração hexânica, compostos fenólicos e alcalóides na fração acetato de etila. A análise espectrofotométrica revelou que a fração acetato de etila possui o maior conteúdo de compostos fenólicos e flavonóides.

Recebido em 14/4/08; aceito em 13/11/08; publicado na web em 25/3/09 CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF Microgramma vacciniifolia (LANGSD. & FISCH.) COpEL (pOLypODIACEAE). Chemical studies with aerial parts of Microgramma vacciniifolia (Langsd. & Fisch.) Copel. afforded β-sitosterol, hopan-22-ol, 6-metoxiapinenin-7-O-β-D-allopyranoside and a mixture containing ethyl esters of carboxilic acids. The structures of the coumpounds were elucidated by spectroscopy and GC-MS analysis. The total phenolics contents of the crude extract and fractions were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau method. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DppH). The AcOEt fraction showed better activity in DppH assay (9.9 ± 0.03 µg/mL), and presented also higher contents of the total phenolic (93.60 ± 1.11 µg/mg). Antimicrobial and allelopathic effects of the crude etanolic extract and fractions also were evaluated. In addition, the combination of biological activities was discussed.

Cytostatics are a major class of chemotherapy drugs with great potential to cause genotoxic and/or mutagenic effects in all organisms. Currently, hospital wastewater treatment systems (HWTS) are not able to remove these compounds and they are discharged to the environment. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the oxidative degradation of the cytostatic drugs doxorubicin (DOXO) [(8s,10s)-10-(4-amino-5-hydroxy-6-methyl-tetrahydro-2h-pyran-2-yloxy)-6,8,11-trihydroxy-8-(2-hydroxyacetyl)-1-methoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrotetracene-5,12-dione] and methotrexate (METHO) {N-[4-[[(2,4-diamino-6-pteridinyl)methyl]methylamino]benzoyl]-L-glutamic acid} by ozonolysis alone and using a combined sonolysis/ozonolysis process on bench-scale at different pH values. Besides determining the degradation efficiency, a kinetic approach was applied to determine the reaction order and rate constants for different oxidative processes carried out at pH 7.0, which is the normal pH of hospital wastewater. The results showed that the removal efficiency of these compounds is pH-dependent. A combination of sonolysis and ozonolysis processes is more efficient than the ozonolysis process alone for the degradation of doxorubicin at all pH values, while methotrexate can easily be degraded by ozonolysis alone or sonolysis/ozonolysis methodologies at any pH.

Recebido em 11/12/08; aceito em 16/5/09; publicado na web em 10/11/09 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ALLELOPHATIC ACTIVITY OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM Hydrocotyle bonariensis Lam (ARALIACEAE). The volatile oil obtained from the leaves of Hydrocotyle bonariensis Lam (Araliaceae) was analyzed by GC, Chiral-GC and GC-MS. It was identified 14 compounds and the monoterpene (+)-limonene (53.6%) and sesquiterpene γ-muurolene (10.5%) were the main components. The allelopathic effects of the oil were evaluated against two seeds, Lactuca sativa and Allium cepa. The results show that the oil exhibited inhibition effects in the germination and seedling growth of plants species relative to the control.

The essential oils from the stem barks and leaves of Croton urucurana Baillon (Euphorbiaceae) were analyzed by GC-FID and GC-MS. 100 compounds were identified and borneol (14.7 %), bornyl acetate (5.2 %), cadina-4,10(14)-dien-1α-ol (14.7 %), sesquicineole (10.5 %) and γ-gurjunene epoxide (5.4 %) were the main components in essential oil from the steam barks. The oil from leaves was rich in sesquiterpenoids, mainly germacrene-D (15.2 %) and bicyclogermacrene (36.4 %). The in vitro cytotoxicity of the oils was evaluated against nine cancer cell lines and herbicidal effects against two seeds. The antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the oils also were evaluated. The essential oil of stem bark was found to be more active than oil from leaves.