Abstract In many places of the world, medicinal plants represent the only form of treatment for various diseases. This work aimed to determine and correlate minerals of infusions and leaves of medicinal plants grown in Northeastern Brazil. Principal component and hierarchical cluster analysis and Pearson correlation were performed. The higher content of Na was for Ocimum basilicum L. (94.3 mg/100g) and Datura stramonium L. (91.6 mg/100g). The plants examined had low levels of K in infusions. All samples contain Mg at significant levels. The cluster analysis divided the medicinal plants into three groups, associated with Passiflora edulis, Capraria biflora and Phyllanthus amarus. Ca and Al were the minerals that contributed most to an association between the plants in principal component 1; while K, Na and Mg contributed most in principal component 2. Furthermore, the high percentage of extraction, mainly Ca and Mg, suggests these plants could be used as potential mineral supplements.

O Brasil tem grande importância no mercado de frutas; porém há escassez de dados acerca da composição das frutas tropicais brasileiras, principalmente daquelas produzidas no nordeste. No presente estudo, determinaram-se macro e microminerais de 11 frutas tropicais cultivadas no nordeste brasileiro: abacaxi, ata, graviola, jaca, mamão, mangaba, murici, sapoti, seriguela, tamarindo e umbu. As amostras foram desidratadas e mineralizadas em HNO3/HClO4 (3:1). Os minerais Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Fe, Co, Se e Ni foram analisados por espectrofotometria de absorção atômica, Na e K por fotometria de chama e P por método colorimétrico. Os resultados indicaram que o tamarindo pode ser considerado excelente fonte de Mg, Cu e K; além de boa fonte em Ca, P, Fe e Se. Dentre os minerais avaliados nas frutas estudadas, K apresentou o maior conteúdo, seguido pelo Ca e Mg. Ata, graviola, sapoti e murici são boas fontes de dois ou mais minerais. Correlações elevadas foram obtidas entre K e os minerais P, Co e Fe; e entre Co e Fe. Portanto, sugere-se o consumo dos frutos tropicais estudados, como auxiliares na reposição de nutrientes minerais.

Brazil has great importance in the fruits market; however, data on the composition of Brazilian tropical fruits, mainly of those produced in the Northeast region, is scarce. In the present study, it was determined the macro- and micro-minerals of 11 tropical fruits cultivated in the Northeast of Brazil: pineapple, sweetsop, soursop, jackfruit, papaya, mangaba, murici, sapodilla, ciruela, tamarind, and umbu. The samples were dehydrated and mineralized in HNO3/HClO4 (3:1) solution. The minerals Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn, Fe, Co, Se and Ni were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry; Na and K by flame photometry; and P by the colorimetric method. The results indicated that tamarind is a rich source of all minerals available, especially of Mg, Cu and K, in addition to being a good source of Ca, P, Fe, and Se. Among the minerals evaluated in this study, K presented the highest content, followed by Ca and Mg. Sweetsop, soursop, sapodilla, and murici are good sources of two or more minerals. High correlations were obtained between K and the minerals P, Co, and Fe and between Co and Fe. Therefore, the consumption of the studied tropical fruits is suggested as an assistant to the reposition of mineral nutrients.

The ethanol extracts from leaves, stems, pods and roots were assayed against the 3rd instar Aedes aegypti larvae and the highest activity was observed in the roots extracts (LC50 47.86 ppm). This extract was submitted to partition with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol. The respective fractions were bioassayed and the best larvicidal activities were identified in the hexane (LC50 23.99 ppm) and chloroform (LC50 13.80 ppm) fractions. Antioxidant activity (DDPH method) was observed in the ethanol extract (IC50 276 µg/mL) from roots of T. toxicaria. Fractions from this extract were also tested and the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 89 µg/mL) was found in the methanol fraction. The flavonoids iso-obovatin (1), obovatin (2), 6a,12a-dehydro-β-toxicarol (3), 6a,12a-dehydro-α-toxicarol (4) and α-toxicarol (5) were isolated and bioassayed against A. aegypti. The flavonoid 5 showed the best larvicidal activity (LC50 24.55 ppm). The antioxidant activity of 2 was investigated and showed IC50 3.370 µg/mL. The antioxidant and larvicidal activities of Tephrosia toxicaria are reported for the first time.

Quassinoids, the bitter principles of the Simaroubaceae family, are a group of structurally complex and highly oxygenated degraded triterpenes. They are divided into five groups according to their basic skeleton, C-18, C-19, C-20, C-22 and C-25. In recent years, attention has been focused on quassinoids because several of them have shown promising biological activities. This paper features a review of some characteristics of these compounds, updating known information with discoveries from the last decade and covering chemical structures, basic skeletons, occurrence in genus and species, besides detailed studies of biological activities such as antitumor, antimalarial, phytotoxic, antifeedant, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory and antiulcer.

O uso de vegetais tem-se difundido largamente nos últimos anos para fins alimentícios, medicinais e cosméticos. Devido à importância do estudo da composição inorgânica desses vegetais, o presente trabalho se propõe a analisar a ocorrência de minerais com comprovadas funções no metabolismo humano em dez ervas de popular uso terapêutico. As amostras estudadas foram tratadas por dois métodos distintos: calcinação seguida de tratamento ácido ou infusão para a obtenção dos chás. Posteriormente, os metais foram determinados quantitativamente utilizando-se espectrofotometria de absorção atômica (Ca, Mg, Mn e Zn), espectrofotometria de absorção molecular (Al e Fe) e fotometria de chama (K e Na). Comparando-se os resultados encontrados no presente trabalho com os valores diários recomendados pela RDA e WHO, sugere-se estudos para a utilização de Chenopodium ambrosioides L. como uma fonte alternativa complementar de Na, K, Mg e Zn, e do Ageratum conyzoides L. como fonte de Ca, Mg e Fe na dieta alimentar. Embora Lippia alba e Justicia gendarussa L. tenham apresentado elevados valores de Ca, recomenda-se uma certa prudência quanto ao uso desse vegetal, devido aos significativos teores encontrados para Al.

The use of vegetables has become widely spread as nourishment, medicinal and cosmetic purposes in recent years. Due to the importance of the analytical study of this class of plants, and considering the growing interest about their inorganic composition that can be represented by the significant number of publications during the last years, the present work intended to analyze the occurrence of some minerals in ten herbs of popular therapeutic use that play important roles in the human metabolism. The studied samples were treated by two different methods: 1) dry ashing followed by acid treatment and 2) as tea by infusion of leaves in boiling water. Next, the metals were quantitatively determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Ca, Mg, Mn and Zn), molecular absorption spectrophotometry (Al and Fe) or flame photometry (K and Na). By comparing the results found in this work with those of the daily recommended values by RDA and WHO, studies are suggested with respect to the use of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. as an alternative source of Na, K, Mg and Zn. Likewise, Ageratum conyzoides L. could be a complementary source of Ca, Mg and Fe in the human diet. Although Lippia alba (Mill.) N. E. Brown and Justicia gendarussa L. have presented high Ca levels, caution should be recommended to some extent concerning the use of this vegetable in view of its significant Al levels.

Determinations of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn were evaluated in five different samples of medicinal plant leaves. Atomic absorption spectrometry was applied to the metals quantification. Except for Fe in Artemisia vulgaris L, significant levels of these elements were found in all investigated plant as compared to other vegetables which are abundant concerning that mineral content.