João Victor de Oliveira Alves et al., RJPP, 2020; 4:8 Research Article RJPP 2020 4:8 Research Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacy (ISSN:2572-8377) Evaluation of the Antioxidant Potential of Artisanal Liqueurs Produced From Fruits of the Caatinga Biome João Victor de Oliveira Alves1*, Francisco Henrique da Silva1, João Carlos de Oliveira Pinto1, Janderson Weydson Lopes Menezes da Silva2, Paloma Maria da Silva1, Irivânia Fidelis da Silva Aguiar1, Katharina Marques Diniz1, Fálba Bernadete Ramos dos Anjos3, Márcia Vanusa da Silva1 1Biochemistry Department, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil; 2Aggeu Magalhães Institute (IAM) - FIOCRUZ/PE , Brazil; 3Department of Histology and Embryology, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco,Brazil ABSTRACT Plant extraction is a common practice performed in community *Correspondence to Author: with the presence of native species with strong population in- João Victor de Oliveira Alves terest. For many Brazilian regions, extractivism acts as a com- Biochemistry Department, Univer- sidade Federal de Pernambuco, plement of income for the population. The present work aimed Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil to evaluate artisanal liqueurs produced in local communities of the State of Pernambuco in order to observe the antioxidant po- How to cite this article: tentials present during production stages. For this, trials were João Victor de Oliveira Alves, performed with dpph and abts radicals. All the liqueurs evaluated Francisco Henrique da Silva, João Carlos de Oliveira Pinto, Janderson showed antioxidant potential, with expressive results through the Weydson Lopes Menezes da Sil- sequestration of the DPPH radical, comprising values of 50 CI va, Paloma Maria da Silva, Irivânia between 0.5 and 2.25. Fidelis da Silva Aguiar, Katharina Marques Diniz, Fálba Bernadete Ramos dos Anjos, Márcia Vanusa Keywords: Caatinga. Antioxidant. Natural products. da Silva. Evaluation of the Antioxi- dant Potential of Artisanal Liqueurs Produced From Fruits of the Caat- inga Biome.Research Journal of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, 2020, 4:8 eSciPub LLC, Houston, TX USA. Website: https://escipub.com/ RJPP: https://escipub.com/research-journal-of-pharmacology-and-pharmacy/ 1 João Victor de Oliveira Alves et al., RJPP, 2020; 4:8 1 INTRODUCTION Even with significant biodiversity, promising bio- active constituents, socioeconomic potential, Liqueurs and other alcoholic beverages, pro- few studies and information are available about duced from fruits, flowers and herbs represent some species predominant in this Caatinga Do- one of the most commercialized products among main, as well as their final products developed numerous regions. Over the years liquors were from the raw material extracted. Thus, this work used in traditional medicine for presenting ther- aimed to evaluate the antioxidant potential of ar- apeutic effects. According to the Guide to Amer- tisanal liqueurs produced in local communities, ican Nutritional Recommendations 2010-2015 using as raw material fruits of species obtained and 2015-2020, moderate consumption of alco- from the region itself such as Genipa americana, holic beverages brings relevant benefits to hu- Myrtus communis and Myrciaria tenella.. man health1,2. 2 MATERIAL AND METHODS Produced by hand, through maceration of the raw material with immersion in ethyl alcohol, li- 2.1 Obtaining liquors queurs usually present physicochemical charac- Artisanal liqueurs produced from fruits of the teristics that allow their distinction, with an alco- species Genipa americana, Myrtus communis hol content between 5% and 40%3 and relevant and Myrciaria tenella were acquired directly concentrations of phenolic compounds, which from the producing communities located in Per- are very prevalent in this beverage and are as- nambuco. sociated with commonly known biological activi- 2.2 Preparation of samples ties, especially the antioxidant potential, which To investigate the antioxidant potentials, tests also helps to reduce the natural pro-oxidative ac- were performed with dpph and abts radicals, in- tivity of alcohol3. itially preparing liqueur dilutions in methanol sol- Among the most used fruits in the production of vent, with initial concentrations of 100μl/ml, 50 liqueurs are cherry, currant, raspberry, and μL/mL, 25 μL/mL. The antioxidant capacity of 4,5 strawberry, among other sources . The man- concentrated liquors was also analyzed. ufacture of artisanal liqueurs constitutes an inte- 2.3 Determination of antioxidant activity by gral use of the raw material existing in local com- DPPH free radical capture method munities, adding value to regional fruits and en- abling an increase in family income 6. The ability to inhibit free radicals of Genipa Americana (LGA)liqueurs,Myrtus communis In northeastern Brazil, the extraction of non-tim- (LMC) and Myrciaria tenella (LMT), was deter- ber natural products, represented by biological mined by the sequestration of the stable radical materials obtained from forest ecosystems, nat- DPPH•, according to the method of Blois et al. ural or artificial, is an important generator of em- (8) A methothic DPPH solution (60 μM) was pre- ployment and family income, which guarantees pared, adjusted to an initial absorbance between the survival of traditional communities, espe- 0.600 and 0.700, at a wavelength of 517 nm in a cially in regions with limited industrial resources. UV-visible SPECTROPHOTOMETER PHOX In the Caatinga domain, extractive activity con- UV/VIS-DUPLO FEIXE-190 A 1100 -2nm. Then, tributes to sustainable rural development, a reaction mixture was performed by adding whether for food, therapeutic, cosmetic, or dec- 1950 μl of DPPH and 50 μl of samples of previ- orative purposes. However, due to the peculiar ously diluted liqueurs and the same volume of climate and soil characteristics, with long periods methanol as control, remaining for 30 minutes of prolonged drought, it is necessary to apply and under light. Trolox (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) sustainable strategies to face adverse condi- was used as a standard solution. All analyses tions, promote local socioeconomic develop- were performed in triplicates. At the end, absorb- ment and ensure biodiversity conservation7. ance readings were made and the absorption of RJPP: https://escipub.com/research-journal-of-pharmacology-and-pharmacy/ 2 João Victor de Oliveira Alves et al., RJPP, 2020; 4:8 the samples (Am) correlated with the decay of 10μl of the liqueur solutions in the differ- the absorbance of the control (Ac) resulted in the ent concentrations. Absorbances were meas- percentage of free radical sequestration ured after 6 minutes of reaction, and as standard (%SRL), according to the equation %SRL=(Ac – solution Trolox was used at concentrations be- Am)/ Ac x 100, being Ac = absorbance of the con- tween 2000 μM to 100 μM. All assays were per- trol, Am = Absorbance of the sample. formed in triplicate. The capture activity of the 2.4 Determination of antioxidant activity by ABTS radical was expressed by inhibition of the the ABTS free radical cation capture method ABTS radical in percentage, using the following equation I%= =(A - A )/ A x 100, being Ac = For the evaluation of antioxidant potential by the c m c absorbance of the control, Am = Absorbance of ABTS radical, the methodology previously de- the sample. scribed by Re et al. (1999) (9) was used. The ABTS radical was prepared from a stock solution 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (7mM), adding 88μl of potassium persulfate so- 3.1 Antioxidant Activity Assessment lution (144 mM), and this mixture was main- In order to investigate the antioxidant potentials tained for 16 hours at room temperature and un- of G. americanaliqueurs, M. communis, M. ten- der light. Subsequently, ethyl alcohol was added ellade in vitro assays based on DPPH and ABTS at the ratio 1:100, adjusting the absorbance be- radicals were performed. All liqueur samples tween 0.70 and 0.80nm at a wavelength of evaluated showed more expressive results for 734nm. In a dark environment, 1 mL of the ABTS the capture of the DPPH radical (Table 1). solution was added in quartz buckets and then Table 1: (μg/mL) of liqueurs of fruits Genipa Americana, Myrtus communis, Myrciaria tenella against antioxidant activity assays by DPPH and ABTS•+ methods. Liquors DPPH ABTS (%) (IC50 µg/mL) (IC50 µg/mL) Genipa americana 2,510 >100 Myrtus communis 0,555 >100 Myrciaria tenella 0,548 >100 The results expressed in CI50 represent the potential in species of the family Myrtaceae, Au- amount of antioxidant compound needed to re- ricchio et al. in their study demonstrated that Eu- duce the initial DPPH concentration by 50%. genia uniflora demosntrou antioxidant potential The liqueur samples of Myrtus communis and 34.6μg/mL of hydroethanolextract results supe- Myrciaria tenella showed values of CI50 very rior to that found in this study. In a study guided close, with no significant difference between by Franco et al. hydroalcoolic extatos of the spe- them. However, in relation to the liqueur samples cies Myrcianthes pungens presented results of Genipa americana,the IC50 values of Myrtus closer to that found in this study, with antioxidant communis and Myrciaria tenella were 4.52 and activity of 6.74 μg/mL. 4.58 respectively, meaning a higher antioxidant Differences in the values demonstrated for spe- activity present in the liqueurs of these two spe- cies of the same family may be a reflection of cies of the family Myrtaceae. Numerous studies climatic conditions to which the plants were ex- have