Testes antimicrobianos e toxicológicos de piper aduncum

Abstract

Plants for medicinal purposes are widely used in Brazil, but there are few studies that demonstrate the efficacy and the safety use. Piper aduncum is used for many communities as medicinal plant to treat and cure different diseases, including gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-microbial and toxic potential of aqueous crude extract from leaves of Piper aduncum, and approximate the effect in laboratory tests to what is possibly observed with the tea use. Healthy leaves of Piper aduncum were used to prepare the aqueous crude extract in three concentrations (20g/L, 10g/L and 5g/L). The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the agar wells diffusion against entropathogenic bacteria Sthaphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 1402 e Shigella flexneri ATCC 12022. Human erythrocyte osmotic fragility and cytotoxic evaluation of Allium cepa roots growth were performed to evaluate the toxicity of the extracts. The phytochemical screening determined the present compound in infusions. The obtained results showed that P. aduncum infusions has no effect as antimicrobial, and it did not have any toxic effect against blood cells, but potential toxic effect on cell development.