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Ethnopharmacological study of plants used topically by the community of Macabú
(RJ) and its essential oil chemistry evaluation
Falcão, D.Q.1; Costa, E.R.2; Menezes, F.S.2; Kuster, R.M.1
Núcleo de Pesquisa de Produtos Naturais, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco H, Universidade Federal do Rio de
Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, RJ, Brasil, CEP: 21941-590. [email protected], deborah_falcã[email protected];
2
Departamento de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Bloco
A, segundo andar, sala 4, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, RJ, Brasil, CEP: 21941590. [email protected]
1
ABSTRACT: Ethnopharmacological study of plants used topically by the community of Macabú (RJ) and
its essential oil chemistry evaluation. An ethnopharmacological approach was conducted in Macabú’s
community aiming to know the species commonly used for dermatological treatments. The purpose of this
inquire was to correlate the popular use in skin diseases with the essential oil composition obtained from each
cited plant. Nine species were cited for topical treatment, however, only five of them could be identified botanically
and/or had the essential oil composition analyzed. All essential oil analyzed has shown the presence of ?bisabolol or its derivative, ?-bisabolene, both compounds very used in commercial available products for skin
disorders. It could be suggested that the efficacy of those plants in dermatological diseases, are at least in
part, due to the presence of ?-bisabolol or its derivative, ?-bisabolene.
Key words: essential oils, Topical Use, Medicinal Plants, Macabú.
INTRODUCTION
Search for new pharmacological compounds
is one of the most important factors of mankind’s
survival through the ages, including the improvement
of life’s quality, especially in the last century. The
popular knowledge allied to ethnomedical practices
in traditional populations has been responsible for
the discovery of new molecules with pharmacological
activity. In this sense, an ethnopharmacological
approach was conducted to know the species
commonly used for dermatological treatments, in
order to correlate their popular use, with the essential
oil composition obtained from each cited plant. The
chosen community was a rural one, which is formed
mainly by Italians and Germans descendants, located
in the Rio de Janeiro’s mountain area, called Macabú.
Macabú is a small town, far 230 Km from Rio de
Janeiro’s city, with 1350m of altitude, showing great
natural resources around the characteristic Atlantic
Forest. This study was carried out on September
2003, when all the cited species were collected.
MATERIAL AND METHOD
frequency of use, mode of preparation and finally the
therapeutic indications for each cited plant. When
possible, the indicated plants were collected,
identified by a specialist from the “Jardim Botânico
do Rio de Janeiro”, Prof. Dr. Élsie Guimarães, with a
sample herbarium being deposited.
The essential oil extraction was carried out with
fresh aerial parts of all identified species by
hydrodistillation using a Clavenger-type apparatus and
the obtained oil was investigated by GC/MS using
column HP5 with temperature program from 60 to
240ºC (3ºC/min). All the obtained results were
compared with McLafferty’s mass spectrum catalog
(McLAFFERTY & STAUFFER, 1989). Bibliographic
research of the identified species was evaluated by
searching scientific prove for the pharmacological
activities cited. This search was made in the main
patent offices, American (http://www.uspto.gov),
European union (http://ep.espacenet.com) and
Brazilian (http://www.inpi.gov.br) trying to correlate
them with cosmetic-like products based on all cited
medicinal plants.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Structured interviews were done with
community residents using a previously elaborated
questionnaire about dermatological pathology
treatments. This questionnaire has approached
questions about the use of medicinal plants, their
Recebido para publicação em agosto/2004
Aceito para publicação em julho/2006
Macabú’s population cited nine species for topical
treatment, however, only five of them could be
botanically identified and their essential oil
composition analyzed besides the scientific and
patent data sought. They were: “erva-de-bicho”
(Polygonum punctatum E.), “mostarda” (Brassica
Rev. Bras. Pl. Med., Botucatu, v.8, n.esp., p.172-174, 2006.
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campestris L.), “transsage” (Plantago major L.),
“hortelã-preta” (Mentha sp.), “aroeira” (Schinus
terebinthifolius R.) besides the not identified species:
“malva”, “carqueja”, “arruda” and “saião”. TABLE 1
shows a summary of all cited species, their popular
use, their essential oil composition (when extracted)
and the bibliographic and patent data research
results. All of the essential oil analyzed has shown
the presence of a-bisabolol or its derivate (RT=20.64
min.), b-bisabolene (FIGURE 1), that is very used in
the preparation of topical products.
containing “transsage” extract indicated for different
dermatological pathologies, including some without
scientific proved evidences as psoriasis treatment.
For “mostarda” it shows a preparation indicated for
burn and scald but there is no evidence of its
correlated properties in scientific literature. The
opposite could be observed with “erva-de-bicho” which
has some antifungical, antibacterial and antiinflammatory properties scientifically proved but no
topical preparation were patented on USA, European
union or Brazil exploiting this activities. No identified
plant species although cited by the Macabú’s
community, could be researched due to the lack of
their scientific name.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
FIGURE 1: Structures of sesquiterpenoids α-bisabolol
and β-bisabolene.
The authors are grateful to Prof. Dr. Élsie
Guimarães from “Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro”
and Prof. Dr. Douglas Corrêa Camelo from UFRJ. This
work was supported by CAPES, CNPq, FAPERJ and
PRONEX.
REFERENCE
All cited plants for topical treatment in Macabú’s
community has shown a similar essential oil
composition, being possible the identification of αbisabolol or its derivate β-bisabolene in common,
among others. However, these compounds are very
known sesquiterpenoids and they have antiinflammatory properties, making them widely used
in topical products by pharmaceutical and cosmetic
industries. It could be suggested, as conclusion, that
the efficacy of the evaluated plants in dermatological
diseases could, probably, be partially due to the
presence of both compounds in the oil composition.
The bibliographic research showed little information
about the cited plants, it only indicated some
interesting activity for “erva-de-bicho” and “transsage”
which confirm their dermatological use. Meanwhile,
no reference correlating the essential oil composition
with dermatological properties was found. The patent
data showed a lot of pharmaceutical preparations
McLAFFERTY, F. W.; STAUFFER, D. B. The wiley / NBS
registry of mass spectral data. New York, ed. Wiley
Interscience Pub., 1989. v. I-V, p. 704-5108.
http://www.uspto.gov
http://ep.espacenet.com
http://www.inpi.gov.br
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TABLE 1. Nine cited species, their popular use, their essential oil composition, and the bibliographic
and patent data research results.
Rev. Bras. Pl. Med., Botucatu, v.8, n.esp., p.172-174, 2006.