Atividade antimicrobiana e anti-helmíntica in vitro do extrato etanólico do tegumento da amêndoa de anacardium occidentale L

Abstract

Anacardium occidentale L is a native plant from Brazil commercially exploited, widely used in folklore medicine and with pharmacological properties. Its antimicrobial action was under study as alternatives to the treatment of microbial infections and control of gastrointestinal parasites as resistance to conventional therapies. Among the most common infections are those which biofilms are present, enhancing their virulence and resistance culminating in difficulties to control and eradicate it. Another issue involves gastrointestinal parasites responsible for affecting numerous people in precarious sanitation conditions, as well as losses in the husbandry sector. The use of natural products derived from secondary plant metabolism shown to be efficient against these problems due to its variety of biomolecules with biological activity. This work aimed to investigate the presence of biotechnological potential of A. occidentale L cashew nut integument extract for antimicrobial and anthelmintic applications. For this, several classes of secondary metabolites evidenced by phytochemical screening. Minimum inhibitory concentration, minimal bactericidal concentration and antibiofilm tests were perform on grampositive and gram-negative bacteria, in addition to candida yeasts. The best results were observe in gram-positive bacteria. However, the growth for the other organisms were also affect. In the antibiofilm test, all presented a decrease in their production. In the mortality test against C. elegans the extract presented anthelmintic effect with LD50 of 128,6 ± 13,6 μg/mL for IVR15 and 0.018 μg/mL for N2. The toxicity of the compound was measure against Artemia saline, having an LD50 of 97,32 ± 10,9 μg/mL. Even though it is an extract, these findings raise great expectations regarding of the constituents and their use as biotechnological inputs for the production of new antimicrobial and anthelmintic drugs.