Anna Cláudia de A. Tomaz

Sources of alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta- and epsilon-carotenes: a twentieth century review

Since humans cannot synthesize carotenoids, they depend upon the diet exclusively for the source of these micronutrients. It has claimed that they may alleviate chronic diseases such as cancers. The present communication constitutes a global review of the scientific literature on plants and others organisms that biosynthesize carotenoids, which include the series alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta- and epsilon-carotenes. The results of the literature survey lists more than five hundred sources.

Natural products with antileprotic activity

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae bacillus. It was considered to be an incurable disease for ages. Nowadays leprosy is a vanishing disease although we can meet it principally in the tropical zone countries. Brazil has the second greatest number of leprosy cases around the world with almost 30,000 new cases diagnosed in 2005. The present work constitutes a literature review on plant extracts and chemically defined molecules of natural origin showing antileprotic activity. The review refers to 11 plants, their families, and geographical distribution, the utilized parts, the type of extract and the tested organism. It also includes 17 compounds isolated from higher plants and microorganisms, classified into appropriate chemical groups. Some aspects of recent antileprotic-activity-directed research on natural products are discussed. For this purpose 63 references were consulted.

In vitro biomass production of Sideroxylon obtusifolium (Roem & Schult)

Sideroxylon obtusifolium belongs to the family Sapotaceae which occurs in the Southwest and Northeast of Brazil. It is used in folk medicine due to its anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic properties. The intense use of its barks and the lack of cultivation of the plant made rare its occurrence in the natural habitat. This study was performed in order to get information about the biomass production of this native species using the techniques of plant tissues culture. The Murashige & Skoog (1962) and Gamborg et al. (1968) culture media containing auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic and kinetin kin were used for callus induction. Fragments of leaves were used as explants and sterilized with sodium hypochlorite for 40 minutes. The best outcome for callus induction was obtained with concentrations of auxin/kinetin of 0.1 mg/L / 1 mg/L in the Murashige & Skoog culture medium.

Brown Algae Padina sanctae-crucis Børgesen: A Potential Nutraceutical

Padina sanctae-crucis Børgesen is distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas; belongs to the Dictyotaceae family, and has proven to be an exceptional source of biologically active compounds. Four compounds were isolated and identified, namely: dolastane diterpene new for the genus Padina; phaeophytin and hidroxy-phaeophytin new for the family Dictyotaceae, and; mannitol first described in this species. Saturated fatty acids as compared to the percentages of unsaturated fatty acids were shown to be present in greater abundance. Palmitic and linolenic acid were the main saturated and unsaturated acids, respectively. Cytotoxic and antioxidant activities were evaluated using human erythrocytes. In vivo evaluations of acute toxicity and genotoxicity were performed in mice. Methanolic extract of P. sanctae-crucis presented antioxidant activity and did not induce cytotoxicity, genotoxicity or acute toxicity. Since Padina sanctae-crucis is already used as food, has essential fatty acids for the nutrition of mammals, does not present toxicity and has antioxidant activity, it can be considered as a potential nutraceutical.