ABSTRACT
Phenological studies aim to determine the seasonal rhythm of the plant life cycle events, as flowering and fruiting. These events are determined by different factors, such as: alternating periods of rainy or dryer seasons, solar radiation intensity, among others. Phytochemistry aims to identify the chemical constituents of plant species or to evaluate their presence. This study aimed the phenological characterization and the phytochemical prospection of jaborandi leaves. The chosen study area for the plant material assessment was the Active Germplasm Bank of Jaborandi in the Embrapa Eastern Amazon, located in the city of Belém, PA, Brazil. The chosen accessions were the following: Merck, grown in full sun and in shade; Japanese and Bonal 4, both grown in full sun. Records were taken on a daily basis for a period of 28 months (August of 2010 to December of 2012), from five plants/accession, and arranged for monthly demonstrations by record sheets containing the corresponding plant numeration and the presence or absence of flowering and fruiting phenophases. The dry weight of the samples collected from the accessions was measured at the Laboratory of Agribusiness of Embrapa Eastern Amazon, where, after the sorting and removal of impurities, the leaves were cut, weighed, placed in stainless steel trays, and dried in forced air circulation oven (FANEM 320 UP) at a 45°C for 120h. Then, the samples were weighed, crushed, and placed in plastic bags properly identified and stored under refrigeration at a temperature of 10ºC until the use. The plant extracts were prepared using 100g of dried leaves from each accession, crushed, and subjected to hydroalcoholic extraction (80% ethanol) with water bath heating under reflux for approximately 4 hours. The extracts were stored protected from light in a refrigerator until the analysis. We analyzed the presence of the following classes of chemical substances: organic acids, reducing sugars, polysaccharides, proteins and amino acids, tannins, catechins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, sesquiterpene lactones, azulenes, carotenoids, steroids and triterpernoids, depsides and depsidones, coumarin derivatives, foam saponin, alkaloids, purines, anthraquinones. Our results showed that the flowering of Pilocarpus microphyllus occurred throughout the year and fruiting occurred in eleven months, and the phytochemical prospection revealed the presence of 11 classes of chemical constituents.
Keywords
flowering; fruiting; chemical constituents
