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Flavonoids and antioxidant potential of nine Argentinian species of Croton (Euphorbiaceae)

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Abstract

Croton is a large genus of Euphorbiaceae and many of its species are used medicinally. This study was performed to analyze the flavonoid composition and the antioxidant potential of hydroalcoholic extracts of nine Argentinian species of Croton: C. andinus Müll. Arg.; C. argentinus Müll. Arg.; C. catamarcensis Ahumada; C. cordobensis Ahumada; C. curiosus Croizat; C. lachnostachyus Baill.; C. lanatus Lam. var. lorentzii (Müll. Arg.) P.E. Berry; C. saltensis Griseb.; and C. serratifolius Baill. Few investigations studying the analyses of flavonoid glycosides in Croton have been carried out. The hydroalcoholic extracts (80 % methanol) from leaves were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The antioxidant activity was analyzed by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hidrasil, Sigma (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), and Folin–Ciocalteu methods. O-Glycosides of flavonols (kaempferol, quercetin, and isorhamnetin) and flavones (apigenin) were ubiquitous in the analyzed samples. Rutin was frequent and predominant, especially in Adenophylli section. Acylglycosides of either quercetin or kaempferol (tiliroside) were detected in most samples. C. argentinus and C. serratifolius were the species with the highest antioxidant capacity and the highest total content in proanthocyanidins and total phenols together. Significant degree (P < 0.05) of correlation was found between relative abundances of total phenols, proanthocyanidins, and quercetin derivatives, with FRAP and DPPH. Principal Component analysis showed a close affinity among Adenophylli species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank FAPESP for funding this research (Process number 2007/02518-6). AS, CMF, DYACS and MLFS are fellow researchers of CNPq (Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil). Field work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation award # DEB-0637292 to PEB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Institute of Bioscience, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, São Paulo, SP, CEP 05508-090, Brazil

    Claudia M. Furlan, Kátia Pereira Santos, Martha Dalila Sedano-Partida, Deborah Yara A. C. Santos, Maria Luiza Faria Salatino & Antonio Salatino

  2. Department of Psicobiology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Giuseppina Negri

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan Herbarium, 3600 Varsity Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48108, USA

    Paul E. Berry

  4. Departamento de Biología, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez, Call Box 9000, Mayagüez, PR, 00680, USA

    Benjamin W. van Ee

  5. Universidade Paulista, Rua Apeninos 267, São Paulo, SP, 01533-000, Brazil

    Lucimar Barbosa da Motta

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  1. Claudia M. Furlan
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  2. Kátia Pereira Santos
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  3. Martha Dalila Sedano-Partida
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  5. Deborah Yara A. C. Santos
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  6. Maria Luiza Faria Salatino
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  9. Benjamin W. van Ee
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  10. Antonio Salatino
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Correspondence to Kátia Pereira Santos.

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Furlan, C.M., Santos, K.P., Sedano-Partida, M.D. et al. Flavonoids and antioxidant potential of nine Argentinian species of Croton (Euphorbiaceae). Braz. J. Bot 38, 693–702 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-014-0115-9

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