ABSTRACT
Verbenaminutiflora Briq. ex Moldenke (gervai) has its popular use reported for liver disorders treatments, diarrhea, and other health problems. However, little is known about its chemical components and studies that proves its medicinal properties are rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of aqueous and ethanolic extracts from flowers of V. minutiflora and to optimize processes to obtain extracts with higher antioxidant capacity and greater concentration of flavonoids. The methods of extraction were designed by factorial planning, where the variables to determine the antioxidant capacity were: pH; extraction liquid; method and extraction time. To determinate the total flavonoids the variables evaluated by factorial design were: concentration of hexamethylenetetramine; type of acid; volume of acid and warming time. The results of chemical analysis of the extracts showed: amino groups, tannins and fixed acids (aqueous extract) amino groups, flavonoids, triterpenes, steroids, alkaloids and coumarins (hydroalcoholic extract). The factorial designs results showed that the best extraction method for the antioxidant capacity was the one that uses vortex, for 35 min, with water: ethanol 50:50, at pH 1, getting 0,1899 ± 5,8.10-3 mmol expressed in ascorbic acid g-1 in extracts of V. minutiflora . While, for dosages of total flavonoids the significant variables were the type of acid and volume of acid. The best extraction obtained was: 6,748. 10-2± 2,085 10-3% expressed in quercetin. These data showed that the factorial design is an important tool in optimizing the extraction of chemical components in natural products.
Keywords
spectrophotometry; multivariate optimization; pharmacognosy
