Bioassay-guided fractionation in Anacardium excelsum (bert. & balb. ex kunth) skeels (anacardiaceae)

Anacardium excelsum is a tree between 15 and 50 meters high, with a thick trunk and is present in some departments of Colombia. Its nut-shaped fruits were used in the old Upar Valley by natives (Valledupar) to make Caracolí bread. Most research has been done at the forest level, but there are few phytochemical and biological activity studies. This bioguided work shows the application of antioxidant methods (ABTS^+·, DPPH^· and DMPD^+·) in the search for active compounds present in the fraction and subfractions of greater activity. The antioxidant capacity was measured to the crude extract in ethanol and the antioxidant activity of the fractions in petroleum ether, dichloromethane, and ethanol-butanol of testa, tegument, flower, fruit, seed, bark, and leaf. Column Chromatography, Thin Layer Chromatography and Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry were performed on the petroleum ether fraction of testa with greater antioxidant capacity, finding the following compounds: 3-pentadec(en)il-phenol, 3-pentadecyl-phenol, 3-heptadeca(dien)il-phenol, 3-heptadec(en)il-phenol, 3-heptadecyl-phenol, 3-nonadec(en)il-phenol, ethyl ester of hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester of heptadecanoic acid, ethyl ester of linolenic acid, hexadecanoic acid butyl ester, ethyl ether of octadecanoic acid, ethyl ester of (Z)-9-octadecenoic acid, ethyl ester of 9,12-octadecadienoic acid and ethyl ester of eicosanoic acid. The results indicate that Anacardium excelsum is a potential source of bioactive compounds.