Abstract

In this study, the chemical composition of the peel and pulp of Mauritia flexuosa fruits were analyzed and the antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extracts from these fruits was evaluated using in vitro tests. Chemical composition analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) indicated the presence of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The peel extracts (ECBU) presented 54.41% and the pulp (EPBU) presented 94.05% of the saturated fatty acids lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic acids. The antimicrobial activities were performed using the diffusion and micro-dilution (MIC) methods. ECBU was active against the bacteria Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus at a concentration of 200 mg mL^-1, but it was not active against the yeasts Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis using the diffusion method. The MIC results showed that ECBU was active against the tested bacteria at concentrations > 12.5 mg mL^-1 and EPBU was active at concentrations > 25.0 mg mL^-1. This was probably due to higher sensibility of the method. The results indicated that the peel and pulp extracts of M. flexuosa present antibacterial activity and that ECBU is an especially promising potential candidate for the prospection of new pharmaceutical compounds.

Key words: Mauritia flexuosa, Buriti, anti-bacterial agents, fatty acids.

Abbreviation

ECBU, Ethanolic extract of Buriti bark; EPBU, ethanolic extract of Buriti pulp; MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration; G+, gram positive; G-, gram negative; GC-MS, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometer; DMSO, Dimethylsulfoxide; ATCC, American type collection culture; CFU, colony forming unit; CLSI, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.