Brazil has a great variety of native plants which could be explored and among them guabiju (Myrcianthes pungens) stands out. Thus, this study consisted of isolating pentacyclic triterpenes, α and β-amyrin from guajibu leaves, and determine the antioxidant activity.The leaves were dried, pulverized and submitted to a dynamic maceration process with ethanol 96° GL, concentrated to obtain crude leaf extract (CLE). CLE was eluted with dichloromethane until total depletion, resulting in a dichloromethane fraction (FRDicl) which was concentrated and analyzed by GC/MS and NMR. The result of the chemical analysis revealed the presence of pentacyclic triterpenes of oleanane (β-amyrin), and ursane (α-amyrin) groups. The β-carotene bleaching method revealed a high antioxidant activity for the CLE as well as for FRDicl. The antioxidant protection equivalent to the trolox was of 137 and 129%, respectively at 500 µg/mL. The antioxidant potential of FRDicl can be explained by the presence of α and β-amyrins.
Keywords: antioxidant activity; dichloromethane fraction; guabiju; pentacyclic triterpenes.