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DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282842
Antifungal activity of supercritical fluid extract obtained from Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess
Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess (Clusiaceae/Guttiferae) is a native Brazilian medicinal plant that is traditionally used in folk medicine for the treatment of several diseases, including infectious pathologies1. Leaves of C. brasiliense were extracted with supercritical fluid using CO2 as solvent (SFE) at 40 and 60°C and pressures of 109.2 and 244.1bar. The extracts were tested against clinical isolates from patients' mouths, containing one of the following microorganisms: Candida tropicalis, Candida albicans or Candida glabrata, by determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). The results indicated that both extracts exhibited antifungal activity against C. glabrata. The extract obtained by supercritical fluid at 60°C and 244.1bar showed better antifungal activity against C. glabrata, with MIC=31.25µg/ml for nine samples. This extract contained 30% of a mixture of mammea- -type coumarins and the majority compound was identified as (-) mammea A/BB by spectroscopy analyses. We conclude that SFE is an efficient method for obtaining bioactive compounds from plants, and that this method preserved the properties associated with antifungal activity.
Keywords: Calophyllum brasiliense, coumarins, supercritical fluid, antifungal activity
Acknowledgement: The authors are grateful to CNPq for providing a research grant and fellowships
References: 1. Reyes-Chilpa R et al. (1997) Chem Ecol 23: 1901.