BACKGROUND: Low-cost organic fertilizers, such as coconut powder and vermicompost, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may benefit the Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa plant. However, it has not been established whether the joint application of these inputs may increase the production of vitexin and other molecules associated with the phytotherapeutic properties of this plant. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the application of AMF and organic fertilizers maximizes the production of bioactive compounds in leaves of P. edulis. RESULTS: The inoculation of Acaulospora longula into P. edulis grown in fertilization-free soil promoted an increase of 86% in the concentration of leaf vitexin, 10.29% in the concentration of total phenols, and 13.78% in the concentration of total tannins in relation to the AMF-free control, rendering soil fertilization superfluous.CONCLUSION: The application of A. longula increases the production of foliar biomolecules, such as vitexin, in yellow passion fruit plants. Thus, the addition of coconut powder and vermicompost to the substrate composition is not necessary, leading to the commercialized production of phytomass in the herbal medicines industry.

Background: Libidibia ferrea is a species particular to the caatinga presenting medicinal properties for containing bioactive compounds. The use of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) can increase the production of biomolecules in the legume leaves; however, no light has been shed on the role of symbiosis in maximizing metabolites production in the bark of L. ferrea stem.Objective:The aim was to select AMF that are efficient at increasing the production of phenolic compounds with medicinal properties in the bark of the L. ferrea stem.Methods:The experiment was designed in randomized blocks with four inoculation treatments (plants pre-inoculated with Claroideoglomus etunicatum, with Gigaspora albida, with Acaulospora longula, and non-inoculated plants – control) with six repetitions. Thirteen months after the transplanting, the plants were pruned and the bark of the stem was collected; subsequently, this plant material was dried in a chamber. After the drying process, fractions of the bark of the stem were macerated in methanol. The extracts were further used for analyses of the biomolecules.Results:The flavonoids concentration had an increase of, respectively, 236% and 186% in relation to the control for the treatments with A. longula and C. etunicatum; plants inoculated with A. longula had an increase of 47% in total tannins concentration compared with the non-inoculated control – a benefit that the proanthocyanidins did not present.Conclusion:Applying inoculation with A. longula may be an alternative to increase the production of biomolecules of the secondary metabolism in the bark of the L. ferrea stem in field conditions.

BACKGROUND Our contemporary way of life has led us to consume high amounts of chemically‐synthesized allopathic medicinal products and anxiolytics to which a viable alternative is the use of Passiflora‐based herbal medicines with composition containing vitexin, a flavonoid with anxiolytic and antidepressant properties. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known for enhancing the production of biomolecules, however, increase production of phytochemistry in Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa has not been reported in the literature. Our aim was to select AMF to benefit the production of vitexin in leaves of P. edulis by inoculating seedlings in the region of roots with Acaulospora longula, Claroideoglomus etunicatum and Gigaspora albida. RESULTS The inoculation increased the concentration of vitexin in 63.64% and the inoculation with A. longula also increased the content of flavonoids and total saponins in the leaves in relation to the control. CONCLUSION The increase in the production of vitexin in the leaf in response to the inoculation with AMF, with emphasis to A. longula, interests the pharmaceutical industry and can generate profit to the production of yellow passionfruit‐based anxiolytic herbal medicine. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

No abstract

Amburana cearensis (Allemao) A.C. Smith is a widely used legume by the population due to its medicinal properties. This species establish symbiosis with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that can increase the production of secondary metabolites, a fact which has not been clarified for this plant. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the contribution of the AMF in the production increase of foliar bioactive compounds in A. cearensis seedlings. The experiment which under-goes protected roofing was carried out using four inoculation treatments: non-inoculated control treatment, inoculated with Gigaspora albida, inoculated with Claroideoglomus etunicatum and inoculated with Acaulospora longula. After 160 days, the following was examined: dry matter of the aerial part, chlorophylls a, b and total, soluble carbohydrates, total proteins, total phenols, total flavonoids and total tannins. A. cearensis seedlings inoculate with C. etunicatum accumulated more dry matter of the aerial part (78.38%), total chlorophylls (24.28%) and chlorophylls b (53.63%), total phenols (47.82%), total flavonoids (32.28%) and total tannins (61.58%) in relation to the control treatment. Mycorrhizal technology using the C. etunicatum fungus is an alternative to increase the levels of foliar bioactive compounds in A. cearensis seedlings.Key words: Caatinga, phenolic compounds, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). INTRODUCTIONArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are inhabitants of the soil and belong to the Phylum Glomeromycota (Schubler et al., 2001). Such organisms are obligatory symbionts because they complete their life-cycle only in the presence of a host plant (Souza et al., 2008). After the fungus has established on the root, the AMF absorb (Smith and Read, 2008).Various studies relate the benefits of mycorrhizal association with legumes and point out the increased vegetable growth and optimized production of primary (Manoharan et al., 2010) and secondary metabolites (Silva et al., 2014a;Nisha and Rajeshkumar, 2010;Kapoor et al., 2004).The increase in the production of secondary compounds in plants associated with AMF may be due to the increased nutritional supply (Toussaint et al., 2007), hormonal changes, enzymatic activation (Zhang et al., 2013) and increased activity of plastidial and mitochondrial pathways (Lohse et al., 2005), however, the effects seem to be somatory and multifactorial (Toussaint et al., 2007).The Caatinga is a biome that is rich in leguminous species with medicinal properties that are widely used by the local population as phytotherapeutic drugs (Agra et al., 2007(Agra et al., , 2008. Amburana cearensis is found among the medicinal plants of the Caatinga, a legume that is used by the local population. Parts of this plant, such as the stem, the seeds and bark are used in the production of pastilles, syrups and teas for the treatment of various diseases due to their antioxidant , antiinflammatory (Leal et al., 2008), antifungal (Santos et al., 2009), antibacterial (Figueiredo et al., 2013 and antineopl...