Calystegines in Solanum crinitum Lam

Calystegines are a group of nortropane alkaloids found in several species of the genus Solanum. These alkaloids mimic monosaccharide structures and show significant inhibition of glucosidases, which are enzymes involved in breaking down complex carbohydrates into their monomers.1 To now, the available data do not allow drawing conclusions on the possible toxic effects of calystegines in humans.2 Solanum crinitum Lam (Solanaceae), popularly known as “jurubeba” and “fruto-de-lobo”, has fine toxic fruits with cytotoxic and antitumoral activities3. The present work aims to investigate calystegines in fruits of this species. The botanical material was collected in November 2018 in Porto Velho-RO, Brazil. Plant material was extracted with methanol/water (1:1, v/v, 20 mL) in an ultrasonic bath for 30 min. After derivatization with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (MSTFA), the samples were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for qualitative analyses and gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (CG/FID) was used in quantitative analyzes. Calystegines A3 (75.09 mg kg-1) and B2 (82.99 mg kg-1) were determined in wet weight. These are common in species such as Solanum Tuberosum L., Solanum lycopersicum, Capsicum Anuum and Solanum melongena.1