Pharmazie
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Comparative Study
Comparison of antioxidant activities and total polyphenolic and methylxanthine contents between the unripe fruit and leaves of Ilex paraguariensis A. St. Hil.
Ilex paraguariensis is used in Brazil as a stimulating beverage called "mate". Leaves and immature fruit extracts of Ilex paraguariensis were evaluated for their radical scavenging capacity, total methylxanthine and polyphenol contents. Antimicrobial activity of two enriched saponin fractions obtained from the fruits were also evaluated. ⋯ Total polyphenol content varied from 86.82 +/- 3 x 10(-4) to 199.91 +/- 3 x 10(-3) mg/g in leaf fractions and from 54.25 +/- 1 x 10(-3) to 110.36 +/- 4 x 10(-4) mg/g in fruit fractions. Enriched saponin fractions from the fruits showed no antimicrobial activity. To our knowledge, this are the first data available on the antioxidant/antimicrobial activities and polyphenol/methylxanthine contents of Ilex paraguariensis fruits.