Estudo fitoquímico da Melochia tomentosa L. (Malvaceae)

Abstract

Plants of the Malvaceae family have been used by mankind since the first civilizations for the most diverse purposes. Melochia tomentosa L. is a mallow that has antioxidant activities and a large number of alkaloids in its composition, even so, there are few studies on the chemical composition of the species. Therefore, this work aims to carry out a phytochemical study of the specie Melochia tomentosa L., in order to evaluate the composition of its extracts and essential oil. The collection of plant samples of the specie under study was carried out in the municipality of Jataúba - PE. For the extractions via soxhlet, the solvents hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol were used. The essential oil of M. tomentosa flowers was prepared by hydrodistillation. Preliminary phytochemical screening tests showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, tannins and coumarins in the hexane, ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts. GC-MS analyzes of the essential oil of M. tomentosa flowers identified the presence of trans-sabinene hydrate in its composition, which may indicate biological activities still unknown. The identification of trans-sabinene hydrate in the essential oil of Melochia tomentosa L. flowers, as well as the proof of the existence of several classes of secondary metabolites in its extracts, are of great contribution to the chemical knowledge of the studied specie.