Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of Licania tomentosa (Benth.) fritsch (crhysobalanaceae)

Abstract

This work describes the chemical composition, and evaluates the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of a hydroalcoholic extract from the leaves of the Licania tomentosa. Gram positive and negative bacterial strains were used in this work. Examination of the phytochemical composition of L. tomentosa revealed the presence of secondary metabolites such as tannins, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids and triterpenoids. An antibacterial assay pointed out that the extract had a lower minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC - 32 ?g/mL) towards Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC12692). The extract also presented antibacterial activity against other assayed bacteria, with the MIC varying between 64 and 512 ?g/ mL. Our findings reveal that the extract presented an antioxidative capacity lower than that of BHT at the same concentration, used as positive control. Our results suggest that the levels and combinations between the secondary metabolites of this plant should be investigated to explain the demonstrated antibacterial activity.