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Chemical composition and expectorant activity of purple bracts of Bougainvillea glabra

Abstract:

Objective: The chemical composition and expectorant activity of the purple bracts of B. glabra were evaluated. Methods The concentrations of alkaloids and saponins were determined spectrophotometrically and the chemical compounds dissolved in chloroform of the dry extract of B. glabra bracts were identified by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). CD1 mice were used to evaluate the expectorant activity, which were divided into 3 groups: Two groups to which, respectively, the doses of the solution (500 mg/kg) of the dry extract of the purple bracts of B. glabra and that of the bromhexine syrup (25 mg/kg) as a positive control, were administered by orally and one control group. The expectorant activity of each treatment was analyzed by the spectrophotometric method for the quantification of phenol red in tracheobronchial secretion of mice. Results: The compounds identified by GC-MS in the dry extract dissolved in chloroform were: 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone, 2, 2-diethoxy-propane, hexadecanoic acid and ethyl ester of hexadecanoic acid. The solutions of the dry extract of the purple bracts of B. glabra and that of bromhexine, administered orally to the mice, produced significantly (P<0.05) higher release of phenol red in the tracheobronchial secretion, respectively, in comparison with the negative control. Conclusions: The dry extract of the purple bracts of B. glabra had therapeutic action as an expectorant agent. It could be inferred that, due to the synergistic effect, the chemical compounds identified by GC-MS and the content of alkaloids and saponins enhance the expectorant activity of purple bracts of B. glabra.