ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF BLACKBERRY ( Rubus sp. ) GENOTYPES FROM THE SOUTHERN REGION OF BRAZIL

The antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds of different blackberry fruit genotypes from the major Brazilian producer region (three cultivars and four selections) were evaluated and compared to the Cherokee cultivar. Phenolic and anthocyanic extracts were obtained and evaluated for each fruit genotype. The phenolic extracts of selections 02/96 and 07/001 presented higher antioxidant activity than those of cultivars in most assays. This activity was partially correlated to the higher amount of total phenolics in these samples. Thus, the phenolic compounds are probably the major responsible for the antioxidant activity in the diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) assay. Quercetin seems to be responsible for the antioxidant activity of blackberry phenolic extracts in the ß-carotene bleaching assay. Concerning anthocyanic extracts, the selection 02/96 and Cherokee cultivar from harvest 2007 had higher antioxidant activity than the other genotypes in most assays. Anthocyanins appear to be the major responsible for the antioxidant activity of anthocyanic extracts in the DPPH and FRAP assays, although ascorbic acid also contributed to the DPPH antioxidant activity. Selection 02/96 appears to have higher antioxidant activity than the commercial cultivars cultivated in the southern Brazil and appears to be promising for nutritional and health purposes.

Pilocarpine accumulation on Pilocarpus pennatifolius tissue culture

Callus and cell suspension cultures were established from young leaves of Pilocarpus pennatifolius on Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 5.0 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 1.0 mg/L kinetine. The pilocarpine contents of callus and cell suspension cultures were quantitatively compared by HPLC

Essential oils from Calyptranthes concinna, C. lucida and C. rubella (Myrtaceae)

Essential oils from Calyptranthes concinna, C. lucida and C. rubella, collected in Southern Brazil, were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Sixty-two compounds were identified representing about 98 por cento of the oil contents. All samples were rich in cyclic sesquiterpenes (more then 90 por cento), mainly those from cadinane, bisabolane and germacrane cyclization pathway. The mainly components characterized were byclogermacrene (22.1 por cento in C. concinna; 11.7 por cento in C. rubella), cis-calamenene (10.3 por cento in C.concinna), beta-caryophyllene (16.5 por cento in C. rubella; 9.4 por cento in C. lucida), beta-bisabolene (25.5 por cento in C. lucida), spathulenol (15.4 por cento in C. rubella) and caryophyllene oxide (7.6 por cento in C. concinna)