UTILIZAÇÃO DE SOLVENTES EUTÉTICOS NA EXTRAÇÃO DE COMPOSTOS BIOATIVOS DA UNCARIA TOMENTOSA(WILLD.) DC.

Abstract

Uncaria tomentosa, popularly known as cat's claw is a climbing plant, is among plants with significant therapeutic and economic potential due to the alkaloid and phenolic components that make up the most important groups of secondary metabolites observed in the species. Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) are mixtures of compounds with a lower melting point than any of its components and thanks to the ability to tailor their properties for specific purposes, have become of growing interest for both research and industry. Considering the diversity of phenolic compounds and their differentiated distribution, this work had as objectives the extraction and quantification of the phenolic compounds of the Uncaria Tomentosa plant, in the presence of the additive DES [betaine] [urea]. DES was added to ethanol for extraction of phenolic compounds and the content of these compounds was determined using spectrophotometric methods using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The results obtained show an increase of total extractable polyphenols (PET) with the increase of the DES concentration, but these values were lower than the PET content obtained in the extraction with ethanol alone. More studies need to be performed with different concentrations and amount of DES to stimulate and direct the continuity of the research.