ABSTRACT Pilosocereus pachycladus F. Ritter, Cactaceae, popularly known as "facheiro", is used as food and traditional medicine in Brazilian caatinga ecoregion. The plant is used to treat prostate inflammation and urinary infection. The present work reports the first secondary metabolites isolated from P. pachycladus. Therefore, the isolated compound 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy benzaldehyde (syringaldehyde) was evaluated as modulator of Staphylococcus aureus pump efflux-mediated antibiotic resistance. The isolation of compounds was performed using chromatographic techniques and the structural elucidation was carried out by spectroscopic methods. In order to evaluate syringaldehyde ability to modulate S. aureus antibiotic resistance, its minimum inhibitory concentrations (µg/ml) was first determinate, then, the tested antibiotics minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined in the presence of the syringaldehyde in a sub-inhibitory concentration. The chromatographic procedures led to isolation of twelve compounds from P. pachycladus including fatty acids, steroids, chlorophyll derivatives, phenolics and a lignan. The syringaldehyde did not show any antibacterial activity at 256 µg/ml against S. aureus. On the other hand the compound was able to reduce the antibiotic concentration (tetracycline, norfloxacin, ethidium bromide) required to inhibit the growth of drug-resistant bacteria, showing the ability of syringaldehyde of inhibiting the efflux pump on these bacteria.

Turnera subulata Sm., known as "Chanana" or "flor-do-Guarujá" in Brazilian folklore, is a plant species belonging to the subfamily Turneroideae of family Passifloraceae, which is used for various medicinal purposes in Brazil. The phytochemical study conducted here led to the isolation and identification of ten compounds present in T. subulata: two mixtures of steroids, sitosterol and stigmasterol (nonglycosylated and glycosylated); a mixture of flavonoids, 5,7,4′-trihidroxiflavona-8-C-α-glucopyranoside and 5,7,3′,4′-tetrahidroxiflavona-8-C-α-glucopyranosidel; and four phaeophytins, phaeophytin purpurin-18-phytyl ester, a rare natural product, phaeophytin a , 13²-hydroxy-(13²-S)-phaeophytin a , and phaeophytin b Phaeophytin b exhibited electrochemical activity similar to that of phthalocyanines.