Atividades biológicas de Anacardium occidentale (Linn).

Abstract

The cashew, Anacardium occidentale L., belonging to the family Anacardiaceae, has great importance for medicinal use. Currently, there have been great scientific advances involving chemical and pharmacological studies of medicinal plants that aim to obtain new compounds with therapeutic properties. The aim of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition and the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of ethanolical extracts of the leaves and barks of Anacardium occidentale L. The experiment was conducted at the Research Laboratory of Natural Products - RLNP of Cariri Regional University - URCA, Crato - CE. The leaves and bark were collected at the Forest Nursery of the Campina Grande Federal University, Patos, to obtain the extract through cold extraction with ethanol P.A., then concentrate in a rotary evaporator. The crude extracts were used for the phytochemical screening to identify chemical constituents and to analyze the antibacterial and antioxidant activity. The antibacterial activity of extracts was verified by the diffusion for cavity method and by determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), whereas the antioxidant was performed using the sequestration of free radicals method using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Tannins, phenols, alkaloids and catechins in the leaves and stem bark, were detected and compounds belonging to classes of flavonoids found only in the leaves. These compounds contributed positively as biological activities, which motivates further study for isolation and identification of active principles.