ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND DETERMINATION OF TOTAL PHENOLICS OF NATURAL PRODUCTS FROM THE BRAZILIAN FLORA

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In the scientific field, several studies have been developed in order to find new antioxidant substances of plant origin. Free radicals play an important role in the biochemical/physiological reactions of the human body. However, if there is excessive production during pathophysiological processes or due to adverse environmental factors and antioxidants are not available in the medium, profound tissue damage can occur. METHODS: This article aimed to identify potential natural products with antioxidant action and with a high content of total phenolics. Seventeen native natural products were evaluated, in the antioxidant tests, the DPPH method was used and, for total phenolics, the Folin-Ciocalteau method was used. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The extracts that showed higher phenolic contents were Anadenanthera macrocarpa and Triplaris gardneriana, with values of 2266.84 ± 9.28 µmol g-1 and 2526.13 ± 476.90 µmol g-1 for antioxidants, and 563.04 ± 4.17 mg gallic acid g-1 and 414.82 ± 414.82 ± 3.57 mg gallic acid g-1 for phenolics. Therefore, this study contributed to help future works aimed at the development of products from the species studied.