Atividade antioxidante e antimicrobiana da pimenta malagueta (Capsicum frutescens)

Abstract

Pimenta malagueta (Capsicum frutescens) as it is known in Brazil, is one of the pepper species most used in cooking and in Brazilian folk medicine. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, total phenolic compounds and capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and crisoeriol content were analyzed. The content of capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and crisoeriol found was 9.2, 4.0 and 2.1 mg/g extract, respectively. The minimal inhibitory concentration was determined against six bacteria strains and Candida albicans but for all of them were necessary concentrations higher than 1000 μg/ml. The total phenolic content was 9.1 mg GAE/g extract. The ethanolic extract of C. frutescens had an effective DPPH and ABTS + scavenging (CE50 of 302.3 and 82.6 g/ml respectively) and percentage of antioxidant activity by β-carotene/linoleic acid assay that ranged from 15 to 47%. The main groups of compounds extracted from plants with biological properties are essential oils, alkaloids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, terpenoids and flavonoids. Our results suggest that C. frutescens contains a potential antimicrobial and antioxidant that can be associated with its phenolic, capsaicinoids and flavonoid contents.