Erva-baleeira (Varronia curassavica Jacq.) : uma revisão de escopo e determinação da composição nutricional e química

Abstract

Varronia curassavica Jacq., popularly called erva-baleeira, is a well-known plant in the pharmacological field. Due to its properties, mainly anti-inflammatory, its use is described in the Brazilian pharmacopoeia as a herbal medicine. Additionally, it is used in some regions of Brazil in culinary preparations, since its aroma and flavor resemble those of industrialized seasonings. Despite this, little is described about its nutritional composition. This dissertation is composed of two articles: I- presents a scoping review on the chemical and nutritional composition of baleeira, following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Searches were carried out in the MEDLINE databases via PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, WoS, LILACS and VHL. As gray literature, the CAPES Theses and Dissertations Repository and Google Scholar were accessed.Original documents that addressed the chemical and/or nutritional composition of baleeira herb were included, without considering language limits, year of publication and type of document (articles, dissertations, theses, monographs). 5,078 records were identified, of which 57 were included. The majority of studies (n=54) were on chemical composition, two on nutritional composition and one on both. The origin of most studies was Brazil (n=51). Of the chemical constituents, alpha-pinene, caryophyllene and humulene were the most frequent secondary metabolites. The main nutrients verified were potassium, zinc, manganese and calcium. It is noteworthy that the literature still lacks studies regarding the nutritional composition of the plant. II- deals with the determination of the nutritional composition and secondary metabolites (phenolic compounds and flavonoids) in the leaves of V. curassavica Jacq. from two locations in southern Brazil. Accessions were collected from Santa Catarina (SC) and Rio Grande do Sul (RS). With regard to macronutrients, lipids (3.2% m/m - SC and 3.37% m/m - RS) and carbohydrates (7.67% m/m - SC) were identified in both accessions. and 7.12% m/m - RS). Proteins and sugars could not be detected. As for micronutrients, the levels of Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, K and Zn were quantified in both accessions. Only Mg demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the accessions (higher content in SC). Regarding metals, it was possible to quantify the content of Al, As, Cd, Cu and Ni in both accessions. There was no statistically significant difference between the accessions. The Pb content was verified only in the RS accession and no Sn was detected in any of the accessions. Furthermore, among the vitamins analyzed, there were levels of folic acid (B9).Of the six phenolic compounds measured, those with the highest values were ferulic acid [166.63 mg/g DM (ethanolic extract - SC)] and coumarin [60.64 mg/kg DM (ethanolic extract - SC)]. The most abundant flavonoid was catechin measured in the aqueous extract (10.49 mg/kg DM - RS and 6.37 mg/kg DM - SC). It is concluded that regarding nutritional composition, only the Mg content was significantly different. Secondary metabolites vary according to the plant’s place of origin. It should be noted that studies on its food use need to be expanded.