Estudo farmacognóstico, fitoquímico e farmacológico das folhas de Morus nigra L. (amoreira-preta)

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been used in the treatment and cure of illnesses for many, many years. Due to their chemical and pharmaceutical characteristics, an increasing number of studies have been conducted to prove their theoretical medicinal capabilities or to obtain new active components. Morus nigra L. is a specie belonging to the family of the Moraceae usually known as a black mulberry tree. In traditional medicine, tea of M. nigra is used in cases of heat waves and even suitable as a therapy of hormonal replacement. This specie has antioxidant, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. This work, the Morus nigra leaf was studied regarding to structural diagnosis in order to contribute to its quality control this vegetable. The present study also examined the possible antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory actions of the methylene chloride extract (MnE) in chemical and thermal behavioural models of pain and inflammation in mice and rats. The MnE given orally produced a marked and a dose-related antinociception against the chemical models of pain, such as writhing, formalin, hot-plate and tail-immersion tests. The extract also presented anti-inflammatory effect in models of granulomatous tissue formation and carrageenan-induced paw edema in comparison to the reference drugs dexamethasone and indomethacin respectively. Using the methylene chloride extract of Morus nigra leaves, it was possible to isolate one terpenoid known as germanicol.