Atividade antioxidante de plantas da família Asteraceae e efeito antifúngico na associação com nistatina

Abstract

Medicinal plants contain active compounds that may have specific therapeutic activities. The antioxidant activity of plants is a field of scientific interest due to the role of free radicals in the development of diseases and degenerative processes. In addition, some active compounds present in plants have antibacterial and antifungal properties, which may be helpful in fighting infections. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of plants of the Asteraceae family and verify the effect in association with the antifungal nystatin. For that, the DPPH method was used to investigate plants' antioxidant power, and the phenolic compounds' quantification was done by comparison with the quercetin standard. The disc diffusion technique was used to test the association of nystatin with extracts or fractions of plants against fungi of the genus Candida. Austroeupatorium inulaefolium, Pteurocaulon alopecuroides, Stevia leptophylla and Vernonanthura discolor showed the highest antioxidant activities for the ethyl acetate fraction, which may be related to the flavonoid content. Interactions of Vernonanthura cuneifolia crude extract and S. leptophylla chloroform fraction with the antifungal agent nystatin were found to be synergistic against Candida albicans, and Candida tropicalis and V. discolor crude extract against C. tropicalis. Additional studies must be carried out to verify the possibility of applying these natural products as antioxidants and antifungals.