Biological activities of Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal

Abstract

This study evaluated the antioxidant, antimicrobial and wound healing activities from the aqueous extract of cubiu (AEC - Solanum sessiliflorum Dunal). The antioxidant activity was evaluated by the scavenging method with 2.2-diphenyl-1.2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and, the antimicrobial activity, by the turbidimetric method. The dermal ulcers induced model in rabbits was used in order to study the wound healing activity. Creams containing 5% and 10% AEC and 5% AEC associated with 1% copaiba oil and 1% rosemary oil were tested. The wounds were macroscopically (ulcer aspect and ulcer area contraction) and microscopically examined. The histological study considered the number of inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, blood vessels, collagen and extracellular matrix areas. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's post hoc test was performed. The AEC showed IC50=65.12 µg/mL and no antimicrobial activity against all of the strains tested was verified. The formulation containing 5% AEC associated with 1% copaiba oil exhibited the greatest pharmacological potentiality in dermal wound healing due to the increased number of blood vessels (p <0.001) and the largest extracellular matrix area (p <0.001) presented. The results justify further studies about biological activities of cubiu in the search for bioactive compounds.