Acacia mangium Willd (Acácia) Extract Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities

Introduction: According to World Health Organization about 80% of the world's population use medicinal plants to healing diseases, including those caused by free radicals, formed during biological oxidative processes or by exposure to exogenous factors. Plants like Acacia mangium Wild (Fabaceae) must have their antioxidant activity aiming at the discovery of new drugs. Objective: Considering that studies integrating the phytochemical, antioxidant and antiproliferative aspects of medicinal plants are scarce, the present work aimed to characterize the antioxidant performance of the leaf ethanol extract of Acacia mangium Willd. Methods: The leaf ethanol extract of A. mangium Willd. had its antioxidant activity by free radicals scavenging by ABTS method, by ferrous ion (Fe2+) chelating activity and by the β-carotene/linoleic acid system, correlating this performance to the chemical components of this plant, as well as the evaluation of antiproliferative activity (in vitro) that was analyzed through the MTT assay in tumor lineage cells Sarcoma 180. Results: Acacia mangium Willd. has antioxidant, antifungal and mutagenic activities and its extract presented high flavonoid and tannin indices and exhibited an important antioxidant action, both by the ABTS method and by the β-carotene method, however, this activity was not observed by the Fe2+ quelation method. These results reinforce the thesis, already defended by other authors, that flavonoids and tannins are probably the holders of the antioxidant action of this species. The results of antiproliferative activity assays showed that the extract was effective in inhibiting the proliferation, in vitro, of Sarcoma 180 cells, which is an unprecedented data regarding the species A. mangium Willd. Conclusion: The leaf ethanol extract of Acacia mangium showed an important antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.