Chemical constituents and toxicological studies of leaves from Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth., a Brazilian honey plant.
BACKGROUND
Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth. (Leguminosae) is widely found in the Brazilian Northeast region and markedly contributes to production of pollen and honey, being considered an important honey plant in this region.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the chemical composition of the ethanol extract of leaves from M. caesalpiniifolia by GC-MS after derivatization (silylation), as well as to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo toxicological effects and androgenic activity in rats.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
The ethanol extract of leaves from Mimosa caesalpiniifolia was submitted to derivatization by silylation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identification of chemical constituents. In vitro toxicological evaluation was performed by MTT assay in murine macrophages and by Artemia salina lethality assay, and the in vivo acute oral toxicity and androgenic evaluation in rats.


RESULTS
Totally, 32 components were detected: Phytol-TMS (11.66%), lactic acid-2TMS (9.16%), α-tocopherol-TMS (7.34%) and β-sitosterol-TMS (6.80%) were the major constituents. At the concentrations analyzed, the ethanol extract showed low cytotoxicity against brine shrimp (Artemia salina) and murine macrophages. In addition, the extract did not exhibit any toxicological effect or androgenic activity in rats.


CONCLUSIONS
The derivatization by silylation allowed a rapid identification of chemical compounds from the M. caesalpiniifolia leaves extract. Besides, this species presents a good safety profile as observed in toxicological studies, and possess a great potential in the production of herbal medicines or as for food consumption.
['Monção|Nayana Bruna Nery|NB|', 'Costa|Luciana Muratori|LM|', 'Arcanjo|Daniel Dias Rufino|DD|', 'Araújo|Bruno Quirino|BQ|', 'Lustosa|Maria do Carmo Gomes|Mdo C|', 'Rodrigues|Klinger Antônio da França|KA|', 'Carvalho|Fernando Aécio de Amorim|FA|', 'Costa|Amilton Paulo Raposo|AP|', 'Lopes Citó|Antônia Maria das Graças|AM|']
toxicology Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Leguminosae GC-MS derivatization Cytotoxicity