Desenvolvimento de processos extrativos a partir da Rumex acetosa e caracterização química de seus extratos

Abstract

Research presents the excess of free radicals as one responsible for various degenerative diseases and aging. In this context, the use of natural phenolic compounds appears to have excellent antioxidant activity and to inhibit the formation of these radicals. In the middle of studies about these compounds, the antioxidants: cis and trans-resveratrol, cis and trans-piceid and emodin are prominent in the scientific world. Scientific works prove the presence of these phenolic compounds in the herbaceous "Azedinha" (Rumex acetosa), so extracts from their roots have been increasingly used in pharmacological applications. From this, the main objective of this work was to extract extracts of these roots using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), pressurized fluid extraction (PLEs), microwave extraction (MAE), solvent extraction low pressure (LPSE) and Soxhlet extraction. In SFE, the effect of the process variables (temperature, flow, pressure and cosolvents concentration) on the kinetics of extraction, yield and solubility of the extract was evaluated. In the PLEs, both temperature and pressure and the influence of the different solvents (water, ethanol, hexane, toluene, acetonitrile and isopropanol) were evaluated and their use sequenced as PLE. The curves obtained in the SFEs and PLEs were adjusted according to the models: Martínez, Crank and Sovová and their calculated mean deviations. In the Soxhlet extraction, the use of four solvents (ethanol, acetonitrile, isopropanol and tert-butyl alcohol) was evaluated, while in the LPSE and MAE extraction ethanol was used as the solvent. The use of supercritical anti-solvent (SAS) precipitation as a drying method was also tested. The total phenolic content, the antioxidant capacity of the extracts and the main components of the extract were determined. The yields obtained in all the techniques varied from 0.2 to 8.7%, being the best result obtained in the PLE extraction with ethanol. SFE presented the extract with the highest concentration of emodin (42.8 mg/g). The concentration of trans-resveratrol in all extracts ranged from 1.0 to 5.7 mg/g, depending on the technique used. The antioxidant activity and the total phenolic compounds resulted in values between 3.4 and 163.4 μg/mL and 27.6 and 157.0 mg EAG/g, respectively, depending on the technique used. MAE obtained extracts with 130.6 mg EAG/g and 3.4 μg/mL in 30 minutes of operation. Extractions with pressurized fluids (PLEs and SFEs) showed excellent results, mainly regarding sequential extraction, in which the separation of trans-resveratrol and emodin was possible.