Author(s)

Rubenice Amaral da Silva¹, Silvana Amado Liberio¹, Flavia M. M. do Amaral¹, Flavia Raquel Fernandes do Nascimento¹, Luce Maria Brandão Torres², Valério Monteiro Neto^3,4, Rosane Nassar Meireles Guerra^1*

¹Laboratory of Immunophysiology, Universidade Federal do Maranhao, Campus do Bacanga, Sao Luis, Brazil.
²Instituto Botanico de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³Departament of Pathology, Universidade Federal do Maranhao, Sao Luis, Brazil.
⁴Universidade Ceuma, Sao Luís, Brazil.

Anacardium occidentale L., Anacardiaceae, is frequently used to treat infections. We evaluated the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of extracts obtained from aerial parts of the plant in comparison with the extract prepared with the flowers. Ethanol extracts of the leaves (EEL), stem bark (EEB), and flowers (EEF) were prepared separately. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by agar diffusion and broth dilution methods. The minimum bactericidal and fungicidal concentrations were determined against: Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Salmonella choleraesuis, Candida albicans, and Candida tropicalis. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was evaluated based on their scavenger capacity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyle. The phytochemical profile was analyzed by colorimetric methods and by HPLC with UV detection. All extracts exhibited antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Although, the EEF was the most effective since it inhibited the growth of all 14 microorganisms tested. Anacardic and galic acids were identified in all extracts as well phenolic compounds, triterpenes, flavones and xanthones. In conclusion, the extracts obtained from the aerial parts of A. occidentale, mainly the extract of flowers that was the most effective, are rich in bioactive metabolites that exert a potent antioxidant and antimicrobial effect. Taken together, the results indicate an important biotechnological potential of A. occidentale as a source of compounds with broad-spectrum antimicrobial and of antioxidant activity to be used in the food and cosmetics industry.

Anacardium occidentale, Antimicrobial Agents, Flowers, Cashew, Caju, Antioxidant

da Silva, R. , Liberio, S. , do Amaral, F. , do Nascimento, F. , Torres, L. , Neto, V. and Guerra, R. (2016) Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activity of Anacardium occidentale L. Flowers in Comparison to Bark and Leaves Extracts. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 4, 87-99. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2016.44012.