Browsing by Author "Silva, Bruno J. C."
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- Antioxidant and anticholinesterasic activities of Morella faya (Aiton) Wilbur extractsPublication . Silva, Bruno J. C.; Seca, Ana M. L.; Moreno-Rodriguez, L.; Barreto, Maria do CarmoMorella faya (Aiton) Wilbur (Myricaceae), formerly Myrica faya, is a shrub or small tree native to Macaronesia, Spain and Portugal and invasive in Hawai'i [1]. In the present study, bioactivities of extracts from leaves and bark collected in S. Miguel, Azores, were determined. Extracts were prepared by sequentially extracting the dry material with dichloromethane and acetone at room temperature. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was determined by the DPPH radical scavenging and FeCl3 reduction assays, total phenolics by the Folin-Ciocalteau method and in vitro anticholinesterasic (anti-AChE) activity by a modification of the Ellman method [2]. The dichloromethane extracts did not present any of these activities between 4.9 and 1250 µg/mL. Both acetone extracts presented a high antioxidant activity. For the DPPH scavenging activity, EC50= 17.7 ± 0.13 and 16.9 ± 0.36 µg/mL for leaves and bark, respectively and 4.5 ± 1.1 µg/mL for quercetin (positive control). In the FeCl3reduction assay, EC50 values were 3.8 ± 0.40 and 3.9 ± 0.16 µg/mL for leaves and bark respectively, and 0.995 ± 0.06 µg/mL for gallic acid (positive control). The acetone extracts also showed anti-AChE activity, stronger for the bark, with IC50= 82.9 ± 6.16 µg/mL and weaker for the leaves, with IC50= 333.0 ± 27.3 µg/mL, which are interesting values for whole extracts. Anti-AChE activity was inversely proportional to the amount of phenolic compounds, 639.3 ± 17.8 mg GAE/g of leaf extract and 95.3 ± 6.55 mg GAE/g of bark extract, therefore the compounds responsible for this effect do not belong to this group. The antioxidant activity cannot be explained by the amount of these compounds alone, since it was quite similar for both acetone extracts and did not therefore reflect the differences in polyphenol content.
- Morella faya (Aiton) Wilbur leaves and bark : bioactivities and isolated compoundsPublication . Silva, Bruno J. C.; Barreto, Maria do Carmo; Silva, Artur M. S.; Seca, Ana M. L.Morella faya (Aiton) Wilbur (syn. Myrica faya (Aiton)), from Myricaceae family, is an evergreen nitrogen-fixing subdecious shrub or small tree native to Macaronesia (Lutzow-Felling, C.J., et al. Technical Report University of Hawaii (http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hpicesu/techr/094.pdf), 1995, 94, 1–25). Morella species have traditional medicine uses and metabolites that exhibit promising bioactivities (Silva, J., et al. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16, 17160–17180). Here we present the biological activity of bark and leaves extracts from M. faya and some compounds isolated from these extracts. […].
- Phytochemicals with Added Value from Morella and Myrica SpeciesPublication . Rosa, Gonçalo P.; Silva, Bruno J. C.; Seca, Ana M. L.; Moujir, Laila M.; Barreto, Maria do CarmoTerrestrial plants, due to their sessile nature, are highly exposed to environmental pressure and therefore need to produce very effective molecules that enable them to survive all the threats. Myrica and Morella (Myricaceae) are taxonomically close genera, which include species of trees or shrubs with edible fruits that exhibit relevant uses in traditional medicine. For instance, in Chinese or Japanese folk medicine, they are used to treat diarrhea, digestive problems, headache, burns, and skin diseases. A wide array of compounds isolated from different parts of Myrica and/or Morella species possess several biological activities, like anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, and cardio-/neuro-/hepatoprotective activities, both in vitro and in vivo, with myricanol, myricitrin, quercitrin, and betulin being the most promising. There are still many other compounds isolated from both genera whose biological activities have not been evaluated, which represents an excellent opportunity to discover new applications for those compounds and valorize Morella/Myrica species.