Phytochemicals and bioactive properties of Ilex paraguariensis: an in-vitro comparative study between the whole plant, leaves and stems

• Autor(a) principal: Souza, Aloisio Henrique Pereira de
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Corrêa, Rúbia C.G., Barros, Lillian, Calhelha, Ricardo C., Santos-Buelga, Celestino, Peralta, Rosane M., Bracht, Adelar, Matsushita, Makoto, Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/12635
• topic: Anti-inflammatory activity; Antioxidant activity; Cytotoxicity; Phytochemicals; Yerba mate

Leaves, stems and whole plant of Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) were characterized in terms of their chemical composition and biological activities in order to determine which part of the plant is more interesting to develop bioactive formulations. The yerba mate samples contain at least five free sugars, five organic acids, eighteen fatty acids, one tocopherol, nine hydroxycinnamoyl derivatives and two flavonols. The leaves extract revealed the highest antioxidant activity, correlating with its highest levels of phenolic compounds. By contrast, the stems extract showed the highest anti-inflammatory potential and was also the most potent against MCF-7 and HepG2 cell lines, probably due to the presence of other phytochemicals. The absence of hepatotoxicity of the extracts was confirmed in porcine liver primary cells. Although the yerba mate extracts have been widely studied, this report shows for the first time the distinct potentialities of each individual part of the plant.