Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were obtained from vegetable oils of soybean, corn and sunflower. The current study was focused on evaluating the antifungal activity of FAMEs mainly against Paracoccidioides spp., as well as testing the interaction of these compounds with commercial antifungal drugs and also their antioxidant potential. FAMEs presented small IC 50 values (1.86-9.42 μg/mL). All three FAMEs tested showed antifungal activity against isolates of Paracoccidioides spp. with MIC values ranging from 15.6-500 µg/mL. Sunflower FAMEs exhibited antifungal activity that extended also to other genera, with an MIC of 15.6 μg/mL against Candida glabrata and C. krusei and 31.2 μg/mL against C. parapsilosis. FAMEs exhibited a synergetic effect with itraconazole. The antifungal activity of the FAMEs against isolates of Paracoccidioides spp. is likely due to the presence of methyl linoleate, the major compound present in all three FAMEs. The results obtained indicate the potential of FAMEs as sources for antifungal and antioxidant activity.

Ethanol extract and fractions obtained from aerial parts of Smilax campestris were examined in order to determine their phenolic composition, antioxidant capacity and antifungal activities. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with DAD analysis indicated that quercetin and rutin were the main phenolic compounds present in butanol fraction and ethanol extract, respectively. The antioxidant activity assessed by the scavenging ability on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical was significantly more pronounced for the ethanol extract and butanol fraction than that of the commercial antioxidant 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol. The antifungal activity of extract and fractions was investigated by using microdilution method against five Candida and two Cryptococcus yeast strains. Ethanol extract and fractions exhibited antifungal activities against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis and Cryptococcus gattii. This work provides the knowledge of profile and content of flavonoids and their antioxidant and antifungal activities in the extract and fractions of aerial parts of S. campestris.

Bacterial infections cause thousands of deaths in the world every year. In most cases, infections are more serious because the patient is already weakened, and often, the bacteria are already resistant to the antibiotics used. Counterparting this negative scenario, the interest in medicinal plants as an alternative to the synthetic antimicrobial drugs is blossoming worldwide. In the present work, we identified the volatile compounds of ethanol extracts of Melissa officinalis, Mentha sp., Ocimum basilicum, Plectranthus barbatus, and Rosmarinus officinalis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Also was evaluated antimicrobial activity of ethanol extracts against 6 bacteria of clinical interest, and was tested the interaction of these extracts with a commercial antibiotic streptomycin. Phytol was a compound identified in all extracts by GC/MS, being majoritary component in Plectranthus barbatus and Rosmarinus officinalis. The Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive to ethanol extracts, and Plectranthus barbatus and Rosmarinus officinalis were the most active extracts. Ethanol extracts exhibited a synergetic effect with streptomycin. These results encourage additional studies, in order to evaluate the possibilities of using ethanol extracts of Lamiaceae family as natural source for antibacterial activity.

Control of Culex quinquefasciatus using chemical insecticides may result in the selection of resistant mosquito strains. Thus, the use of plant-derived products has been studied as alternative for the mosquito control. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) obtained by transesterification of vegetable oils may result in compounds with larvicidal potential against C. quinquefasciatus. However, little is known about the morphological, physiological or biochemical effects that these FAMEs may have on mosquito larvae. The present study reports the effects of these FAMEs in mosquito larvae. The FAMEs were obtained by transesterification of canola, corn, sunflower, and soybean oils with acid catalysis and the determination of FAMEs composition was done by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Larvae of C. quinquefasciatus were exposed to different concentrations of the vegetable oils and FAMEs. Thereby, different FAMEs showed LC values ranging from 42.32 to 196.27mg/L against C. quinquefasciatus larvae. The methyl ester obtained from sunflower oil showed the lowest LC. Histology of C. quinquefasciatus larvae exposed to LC of FAMEs was performed and changes in the midgut and fat body morphology were identified. Therefore, larval mortality and changes in the internal organs suggested that FAMEs might be a promising new class of larvicidalcompounds. Cytotoxicity of FAMEs compounds was assessed with the HeLa human cell line and no effect was observed.

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The species Rosmarinus officinalis L. is popularly known as rosemary, being widely used in traditional medicine. In the present study, the ethanol extract and fractions obtained from R. officinalis were evaluated for allelopathic and antioxidant activities and determined the content of phenolic compounds. The ethanol extract and fractions showed antioxidant activity in five concentrations tested. Regarding the EC 50 values, the ethanol extract and fractions showed better results than the BHT, reference compound. The EC 50 values obtained for the ethanol extract and fractions could not be correlated directly with the content of phenolic compounds present in the samples. For allelopathic activity, the samples showed heterogeneous effects on growth of hypocotyl and radicle of seeds of lettuce and onion observed at different concentrations (50, 100 and 200 mg/mL). For the radicle onion (Allium cepa), the best results were obtained for the ethanol extract and fractions hexane and dichloromethane, which inhibited growth at all concentrations, and the dichloromethane fraction promoted an inhibition greater than 80.0%, at a concentration of 200 mg/mL. Regarding the onion hypocotyl, the effects were heterogeneous. The results for the growth of radicle and hypocotyl of lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa) showed that the inhibitory effect was more significant than the stimulatory, when the seeds were treated with the ethanol extract and fractions. Regarding the inhibitory effect, they emphasized the dichloromethane fraction with a 100.0% inhibition, at a concentration of 200 mg/mL. Inhibition of hypocotyl was more significant than the radicle for lettuce seeds. The ethanol extract and dichloromethane fraction had an inhibitory effect, at all concentrations tested. In the search for new antioxidants and allelochemicals of natural origin, the species Rosmarinus officinalis may be a good candidate.Keywords: antioxidant; allelophatic; phenol total; Rosmarinus officinalis.

The phytochemical investigation and evaluation of the phytotoxic effect of the extract and fractions obtained from the leaves of Annona nutans (R. E. Fr.) R. E. Fr. were performed. Phytotoxic activity was assessed on radicle and hypocotyl of Allium cepa and Lactuca sativa , where chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions proved active. Phytochemical investigation of the chloroform fraction was allowed identification of polyketides derivatives: triacontanal, 16-hentriacontane, octacosanol and triacontanol, using the 1 H NMR technique associated with data from GC/MS. Using ethyl acetate fraction, with low activity, flavonoids 3- O -β-D-galactopyranosyl-isorhamnetin, 3- O -β-D-galactopyranosyl-quercetin and 3- O -β-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→2)-galactopyranosyl-quercetin were identified, determined by spectrometric techniques one and two-dimensional NMR, combined with mass spectral data. All substances are being reported for the first time in Annona nutans . The phytotoxic activity of chloroform fraction may be related to the presence of triacontanol and similar substances. Triacontanol stimulates growth at very low concentrations, but can have an inhibitory effect at higher concentrations, such as those reported for auxin analogs. The toxicity assay using Artemia salina (BST) was also performed, with the chloroform fraction showing a negligible lethal dose, LD 50 = 500 mg mL -1 , while the other fractions and extracts showed no activity. Thus, the presence of acetogenins was ruled out. ]]>