Bioactivity of seeds and pericarp fractions of sugar apple Annona squamosa (Annonaceae) in Aspergillus nidulans

Abstract

Plants are used in folk medicine and contain bioactive substances which are produced as secondary metabolites and may trigger pharmacological or toxicological effects on humans and animals. Annona squamosa, popularly known as sugar apple, is used to cure diseases; has a broad nutritional spectrum and is an excellent source of several bioactive substances, such as alkaloids, terpenes, tannins, phenolic compounds and acetogenins. Although its several biological activities have already been described, investigation on extracts and their isolates is required to verify the genotoxicity of fraction extracts obtained from seeds and pericarps of A. squamosa in germinating Aspergillus nidulans conidia by estimating dead and malformed conidia. Results indicated that the fraction ethyl acetate of pericarp caused pro-repair effects at low concentrations (2.5 and 25 μg.mL-1) and anti-apoptotic effects at a higher concentration (250 μg.mL-1). The methanol fraction of pericarp extract showed an apoptotic effect at low concentration and a genotoxic effect at a high concentration. The ethyl acetate seeds extract fraction also indicated the activation of apoptosis at all concentrations, whereas the methanol fraction revealed a pro-repair effect. The diversity of bioactivities of the plant´s fractions indicated classes of secondary metabolites which may be beneficial to human health. Therefore, current the study contributes towards the choice of fractions for further isolation and the chemical identification of medicinal potential metabolites.