PHYTOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING OF EXTRACTS FROM THE LEAVES OF Caesalpinia pyramidalis

Abstract

Since ancient times, humans have used medicinal plants to cure the ills of the time. At that time, science was not as advanced as it is today, so the use of these plants was done in a random, experimental, and observational manner. As scientific advances and studies on various plants have led to their use in pharmacology increasing every day. As Brazil has a vast diversity, it has many plants, on which several studies have already been developed, while others have not. The present study sought to extract the leaves of Caesalpinia pyramidalis, as well as identify classes of secondary metabolites present in the extracts of the plant known as “catinga de porco” (pig catinga) with the aim of adding information about their composition and thus strengthening future research on their use. Phenols, tannins, saponins, flavonols, catechins, steroids, triterpenes and alkaloids were identified in the crude extract and in the ethyl acetate fraction. These results are in agreement with studies found in the literature, which show the presence of these secondary metabolites in the leaves of Caesalpinia pyramidalis. Thus, we conclude that the leaves of Caesalpinia pyramidalis are a potential source of pharmacologically active compounds.