This qualitative study aimed to characterize the groups of secondary metabolites and some constituents of 9 species of native medicinal plants of the Cerrado region used by the rural community of Vale Verde Settlement, identifying their biological and pharmacological potential. The information on medicinal plants were obtained through ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies performed during the period 2010-2012. The botanical material collected was identified and deposited in the Herbarium of the Federal University of Tocantins, Porto Nacional (TO). The ethanolic and methanolic extracts were obtained from the oven dried material, filtered and concentrated in a rotary evaporator under reduced pressure, then weighed and placed again in an oven for 24h at 50 ° C, obtaining the yield (m / m), resulting from the ratio between the mass of concentrated extract and the mass after drying. Phytochemical analysis of selected plants was done using the methodology of Preliminary Prospecting, with tests for the detection of some important constituents and of the main groups of metabolites: saponins, phenols and tannins, catechins, steroids and triterpenoids, coumarins, anthraquinones and flavonoids. The tests were considered positive by the reactions of precipitates with colorations, the formation of foams and colored stains. Phytochemical tests performed on the extracts revealed the presence of constituents of secondary metabolism of plants, which can help to identify chemical markers of species. These markers are indispensable for testing quality and integrity of phytochemicals and a safer popular use of medicinal plants, enabling a better pharmacognostic control of these species and guidance for their use and applications in research by the preliminarily known bioactivity. In this case, it is especially due to the antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti insect activities, suggesting an association with the presence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids, positive in extracts of most species. These data are novel in Tocantins and strategic for the strengthening of conservation policies of Legal Reserve Areas within the Cerrado, priority biome for the conservation of biodiversity, improving the characterization of medicinal resources still available in the regional native flora, also foreseeing their biological and pharmacological applications.
Phytochemistry; Prospecting; Medicinal Plants; Cerrado; biodiversity
