Caracterização analítica e biológica da droga vegetal produzida a partir de cascas de Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart.

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of various physiological disorders is a very old practice, being passed on over the years. The efficiency of a particular plant must be proven, as well as its safety, so that the use by the population is based on scientific evidence. In this context, it is necessary to study plant species of pharmacological importance, with the purpose of characterizing them chemically, physically and biologically. The objective of this work was to characterize and standardize the different particle size of the vegetal drug from the barks of Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart., In order to evaluate the biological action of the tea produced with the best yielding particle. Samples obtained after size separation were AP01 (> 355 μm), AP02 (≥180 μm), AP03 (≥155 μm), AP04 (≥75 μm) and AP05 (≥38 μm). The powders were evaluated according to tests established by the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia for plant drugs. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetry (TG), microscopy (optical microscopy), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and chromatographic (HPLC-UV) were used in the physical and chemical characterization. Through thermogravimetry it was possible to observe its decomposition processes and using the Flyn-Wall-Ozawa and Kissinger-Akira-Sunose method it was possible to determine the activation energy of each particle. Particle cytotoxicity was assessed by the erythrocyte hemolysis test. The powders obtained with the sieving are within acceptable quality limits for the moisture and ash tests. The thermal events occurring in DTA and TG showed differences in their temperatures according to the particle size distribution of each particle, as well as its activation energy. The amount of metabolites extracted was also influenced by the size of the particles as well as the percentage of hemolysis. Through the use of several analytical techniques, it was possible to conclude that the size of the particles can influence physical, chemical and biological parameters, being of fundamental importance standardizing them, guaranteeing, in an efficient way, their quality and safety.