No abstract

RESUMO:Caesalpinia ferrea Mart. (jucá ou pau-ferro) é uma espécie da família Leguminosae cuja ocorrência estende-se da região Nordeste ao Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Trata-se de uma espécie bastante utilizada na medicina popular pelas suas inúmeras propriedades terapêuticas tais como antiinflamatória, analgésica, antimicrobiana e antitérmica as quais indicam a presença de compostos de interesse farmacológico. Contudo, muitos estudos em plantas também investigam a presença de compostos de interesse industrial. Com base nas propriedades terapêuticas e atividades já descritas para essa espécie, esse trabalho objetivou pesquisar atividades biológicas no extrato de sementes de C. ferrea na busca por compostos de interesse industrial e farmacológico. Os resultados indicaram a presença das atividades celulásica, amilásica, anticoagulante e larvicida contra A. aegypti no extrato aquoso das sementes de C. ferrea, entretanto, não foram observadas as atividades tóxica aguda, hemolítica, heparinásica, antibacteriana e antifúngica.Unitermos: Caesalpinia ferrea, Leguminosae, atividades biológicas, atividades enzimáticas, sementes.ABSTRACT: "Biological and enzymatic activities of aqueous extract of seeds from Caesalpinia ferrea Mart., Leguminosae." Caesalpinia ferrea Mart. is a species belonging to Leguminosae family commonly known in Brazil as "jucá" or "pau-ferro". It occurs in Brazil from the Northeast Region to the State of Rio de Janeiro and it is widely utilized in folk medicine due to its several therapeutic properties such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial and antithermic, which indicate the presence of compounds of pharmacological interest. Besides, many studies with plants look for the presence of compounds with industrial applications. Based upon the therapeutic and bioactive properties described for this species so far, this work aimed to investigate several biological activities in the water extract of C. ferrea seeds. The results indicated the presence of the following activities: cellulase, amylase, anticoagulant and larvicide against A. aegypti in the water extract of C. ferrea seeds. Nevertheless, the extract did not show the other activities assayed: acute toxic activity, hemolytic, heparinasic, antibacterial and antifungal activities.

Recebido em 12/2/09; aceito em 30/7/09; publicado na web em 21/1/10The new iridoid glucoside 10-O-vanilloyl-geniposidic acid has been isolated from the aerial parts of Alibertia myrciifolia along with hydroxyhopanone, 3a,22-dihydroxyhopane, ursolic acid, luteolin-3´,4´-dimethyl ether, caffeic acid and geniposidic acid. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by means of mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analyses. The antifungal activities of the iridoids 10-O-vanilloyl-geniposidic acid and geniposidic acid were evaluated against the phytopathogenic fungi strains Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium solani and Aspergillus niger.