Dados do Trabalho

Título

STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND GASTROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SOLUBLE DIETARY FIBERS EXTRACTED FROM BOCAIUVA (Acrocomia corumbaensis) FRUIT PULP

Introdução

Bocaiuva (Acrocomia corumbaensis S.A. Vianna. sp. nov.), is a fruit from the Brazilian Cerrado, explored by extractivists serving as a means of their subsistence as well as generating interest to the Brazilian industry in the search for biologically active substances such as dietary fiber. The present work aims to extract dietary fibers from Acrocomia corumbaensis, as well as to evaluate their potential gastroprotective activity. Bocaiuva was collected in Corumbá city, Mato Grosso do Sul.

Material e Métodos

The fruits were picked ripe and manually pulped. Bocaiuva flour was obtained from dehydration and milling. Bocaiuva flour was defatted with methanol/chloroform (1:1, v/v) in a Soxhlet apparatus and subsequently air dried in the hood. Soluble dietary fibers were extracted following the enzymatic-gravimetric method (AOAC method 991.43) and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance, chromatography and other analytical techniques.

Resultados e Discussão

An acetylated glucomannan (4.3:1 Man:Glc ratio, degree of acetylation 24% and Mw of 1.82  105 g/mol) was obtained. Its gastroprotective activity was evaluated in vivo, employing the ethanol induced gastric ulcer model. The animals were pretreated with vehicle, sucralfate, and soluble dietary fiber from bocaiuva pulp by oral or intraperitoneal route. After 60 (for v.o.) or 30 (for i.p.) minutes, the animals were orally treated with ethanol. The results of the biological activity showed that soluble dietary fiber from bocaiúva at different concentrations presented significative gastroprotective activity, which was associated with the preservation of the mucus in the gastric mucosa as well as the inhibition of the GSH depletion, thus demonstrating to be a promising therapeutic agent against gastric ulcer.

Conclusão

Thus, this is the first report on the chemical structure of dietary fibers from bocaiúva pulp and the evaluation of their gastroprotective effect.