150 0009-3130/13/4901-0150 �2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 49, No. 1, March, 2013 [Russian original No. 1, January–February, 2013]

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITYOF Indigofera suffruticosa

Angela M. C. Arriaga,1* Telma L. G. Lemos,1 UDC 547.913Gilvandete M. P. Santiago,1 Manoel Andrade-Neto,1

Milena A. Braga,1 Macia C. S. de Almeida,1

Tathilene B. M. Gomes,1 Francisco E. A. Rodrigues,1

Jackson Nunes e Vasconcelos,1,2 and Pericles B. Alves3

Indigofera suffruticosa Mill. (Fabaceae), popularly known as “anil,” is an endemic shrub, which is distributed intropical America [1]. This plant species is used as a source of indigo dye, and its leaves and roots are popularly used againsturinary tract disease, disorders of the nervous system, joint pain and neuralgic, epilepsy, spasm, fever, nose bleeding, acuteinflammation of the skin, hepatitis, scabies, and gonococcal urethritis [2]. The literature points to studies on its severalbiological activities [3–8], and chemical investigations have been made previously [9–11] on this species; nevertheless, to thebest of our knowledge, only one report has appeared concerning the volatile chemistry of this genus [12].

Restrictions on the use of synthetic antioxidants are being imposed because of their potential carcinogenicity [13].Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the antioxidant activity (Table 1) and the chemical composition of its pods.The presence of gallic acid, which is known to be a powerful antioxidant [14], seems to be responsible for its radical scavengingactivity (1.55·10–2 � 3.0·10–4 mg/mL), as shown by the ethanol extract of pods of I. suffruticosa.

Successive chromatographic treatments of the ethanol extract of the air-dried pods of I. suffruticosa afforded sitosteroland gallic acid. The structures of these compounds were established based on the comparison of 1H and 13C NMR data withthe literature [15, 16].

The essential oil from the leaves of I. suffruticosa was analyzed by CG/MS to determine their constituents. Thirteenconstituents were identified in the oil of I. suffruticosa leaves representing 96.8% of the total oil fraction, and the majorconstituents were phytol (75.8%) and methyl linoleate (9.1%) (Table 2).

The results indicated that I. suffruticosa essential oil was characterized mainly by a large amount of a linear diterpene(78.5%), the esters of fatty acids (12.8%) and aliphatic compounds (8.2%), and by the lack of mono- and sesquiterpenes.

To the best of our knowledge, the only study on the essential oil of Indigofera genus in the literature is on I. microcarpa[12] and shows no similarities between the oils. The oil of I. microcarpa has the sesquiterpenes �-caryophyllene and�-humulene as the main constituents but no diterpenes and fatty acids. This fact suggests the chemical variability among theoils of the genus Indigofera.

1) Curso de Pos-Graduacao em Quimica, Universidade Federal do Ceara, Cx Postal 6036, CEP 60451-970, Fortaleza,CE, Brazil, e-mail: angelamcarriaga@yahoo.com.br; 2) Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Ceara, CampusTiangua, CEP 62320-000, Tiangua, CE, Brazil; 3) Departamento de Quimica, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, CEP 49100-000,Sao Cristovao, SE, Brazil. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 1, January–February, 2013, pp. 132–133.Original article submitted November 8, 2011.

TABLE 1. The DPPH Free Radical Scavenging Activity of I. suffruticosa Ethanol Extract

Concentration, mg/mL

Antioxidant, % Sample

1.0 0.1 IC50, mg/mL

Trolox Vitamin C

ISP

99.9 99.8 99.8

99.8 92.8 96.8

2·10–3 � 2.3·10–4

4.3·10–2 � 1.9·10–2

1.55·10–2 � 3.0·10–4

151

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors thank PRONEX, FUNCAP, CAPES, and CNPq for fellowships and financial support.

REFERENCES

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TABLE 2. Chemical Constituents of the Leaf Oil of Indigofera suffruticosa

Constituent RI % Constituent RI %

(Z)-3-Hexenyl benzoate Methyl hexadecanoate Phytol Linoleic acid Methyl linoleate n-Docosane n-Tricosane

1566 1925 1943 2133 2085 2200 2300

1.4 1.5 75.8 0.8 9.1 0.5 1.2

n-Tetracosane n-Pentacosane Hexacosane Heptacosane Octacosane Nonacosane Total

2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900

0.7 1.7 0.7 1.9 0.3 1.2 96.8

______RI: retention indices.