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

Aloisio H P Souza; Rúbia C G Corrêa; Lillian Barros; Ricardo C Calhelha; Celestino Santos-Buelga; Rosane M Peralta; Adelar Bracht; Makoto Matsushita; Isabel C F R Ferreira

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2015.09.032

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

Food Res Int. 2015 Dec:78:286-294. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2015.09.032. Epub 2015 Sep 28.

Authors

Aloisio H P Souza¹, Rúbia C G Corrêa², Lillian Barros³, Ricardo C Calhelha⁴, Celestino Santos-Buelga⁵, Rosane M Peralta⁶, Adelar Bracht⁶, Makoto Matsushita⁶, Isabel C F R Ferreira⁷

Affiliations

¹ Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal; Federal Institute of South Mato Grosso, Campus Coxim, 79400-000 Coxim, Brazil; Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry, State University of Maringa, Av. Colombo, 5790, 87020-900 Maringa, PR, Brazil.; CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, 70.040-020 Brasília, DF, Brazil.
² Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal; Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry, State University of Maringa, Av. Colombo, 5790, 87020-900 Maringa, PR, Brazil.; CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, 70.040-020 Brasília, DF, Brazil.
³ Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal.
⁴ Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal; Centre of Chemistry, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
⁵ GIP-USAL, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
⁶ Departments of Biochemistry and Chemistry, State University of Maringa, Av. Colombo, 5790, 87020-900 Maringa, PR, Brazil.
⁷ Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal. Electronic address: iferreira@ipb.pt.

PMID: 28433294
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2015.09.032

Abstract

The 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 leaf extract revealed the highest antioxidant activity, correlating with its highest levels of phenolic compounds. By contrast, the stem 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 in 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.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory activity; Antioxidant activity; Cytotoxicity; Phytochemicals; Yerba mate.