PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS, TOCOPHEROLS, AND PHYTOSTEROLS: INFLUENCE ON THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF BARU OIL AND ALMOND (DIPTERYX ALATA VOGEL)

Plants originating from the Cerrado, although still little studied and explored, have great potential for use in several industrial sectors. Therefore, the present study aims to analyze the content of phenolic compounds, carotenoids, tocopherols and phytosterols in almond and baru oil and verify whether they have an effect on oxidative stress in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MN) and antimicrobial activity. Baru almonds presented higher levels of phenolic compounds than baru oil (respectively 165.99 mg gallic acid/100 g and 8.95 mg gallic acid/100 g for total phenolic compounds, 36.08 mg quercetin/100 g and 7.69 mg quercetin/100 g for flavonoids, 1275.19 μg caffeic acid/100 g and 82.13 μg caffeic acid/100 g for phenolic acids). Regarding the carotenoid content, an opposite behavior was observed, with the highest content obtained for the oil (195.42 μg of β-carotene/g). The composition of phytosterols and tocopherols of baru almond oil indicate β-sitosterol and α-tocopherol as predominant compounds. Baru almonds showed higher antioxidant capacity by the ABTS, DPPH, FRAP and carotene/linoleate methods than baru oil, with the highest values ​​found by the ABTS method in both samples, demonstrating that the compounds present in baru act more strongly by donating electrons to the ABTS⁺ radical than by other antioxidant mechanisms. Baru oil increased the concentration of superoxide anion and superoxide dismutase in MN cells, demonstrating a stimulatory effect. However, regarding antimicrobial activity, there was no inhibitory effect on the microorganisms Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium and Streptococcus pyogenes, when compared with the positive control of chloramphenicol. These findings demonstrate the potential use of baru almonds and oil for both the food and pharmaceutical industries.