Caesalpinia peltophoroides is a domesticated tree found in Brazil. It was necessary to develop an analytical method to determine the content of total polyphenols (TP) in this herbal drug. The pre-analytical method was standardized for analysis time, wavelength, and the best standard to use. The optimum conditions were: pyrogallol, 760 nm, and 30 min respectively. Under these conditions, validation by UV/Vis spectrophotometry proved to be reliable for TP of the crude extract and semipurified fractions from C. peltophoroides. Standardization is required for every herbal drug, and this method proved to be linear, precise, accurate, reproducible, robust, and easy to perform.

A investigação fitoquímica das raízes de Raulinoa echinata, planta endêmica do Vale do Itajaí/SC, levou ao isolamento e identificação dos limonóides degradados: fraxinelona, fraxinelonona e epoxi-fraxinelona. O último foi anteriormente isolado dos caules, porém sua configuração relativa não foi resolvida por experimentos de RMN. Este trabalho apresenta a análise de difração de raios-X da epoxi-fraxinelona, descreve o isolamento da fraxinelonona e fraxinelona pela primeira vez em Raulinoa, e a atividade tóxica da primeira sobre formigas cortadeiras (Atta sexdens rubropilosa). Pouca atividade foi observada para o limonóide degradado testado; entretanto, o limonóide ácido limonéxico isolado dos caules, apresentou alta toxicidade contra as formigas cortadeiras, reduzindo consideravelmente a longevidade das mesmas, em comparação com o controle.

Phytochemical survey of roots extracts of the South Brazilian endemic plant Raulinoa echinata Cowan, Rutaceae led to the isolation of known degraded limonoids: fraxinellone, fraxinellonone and epoxy-fraxinellone. The latter was previously isolated also from the stems, but the relative configuration could not be solved by NMR experiments. This paper deals with the X-ray diffraction analysis of epoxy-fraxinellone and its toxicity to leaf-cutting ants, describes the isolation of fraxinellonone and fraxinellone for the first time in Raulinoa. Epoxy-fraxinellone showed no toxicity to the leaf-cutting ants (Atta sexdens rubropilosa). The limonoid limonexic acid, isolated from stems, presented high toxicity to the leaf-cutting ants, diminishing considerably their longevity.