6.1.3. Phytochemical Aspects

Table 4 presents a summary of classes of secondary metabolites found in the respective extracts and plant organs of *B. antiacantha* species.


**Table 4.** Phytochemical analysis of *B. antiacantha.*

S: saponin; CC: Column Chromatography. \* Based on the lack of the isolation study of the chemical constituent, as it is a qualitative study, it was not possible to design the structures.

There are few studies on the chemical composition of *B. antiacantha*, and most of them only perform qualitative screening, without quantifying or isolating substances. The analysis of the proximate composition of ripe fruits showed 82.63% of moisture, 0.62% of protein, 2% of fiber, 8.75% of carbohydrates and 0.93% of ash. In addition, other compounds were quantified, which are associated with the antioxidant activity of fruits and are composed of 70.73 mg/100 g of phenolic compounds, 162.67 mg/100 g of total carotenoids and 60.01 mg/100 g of vitamin C [197].

A qualitative phytochemical analysis performed with the methanolic extract from *B. antiacantha* leaves and fruits detected, in the methanolic extract of fruits, the following groups of secondary metabolites: alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, triterpenes, steroids, anthraquinones and coumarins. In the methanolic extract of leaves, the following groups of secondary metabolites were identified: alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, triterpenes, steroids and coumarins [193]. The presence of flavonoids, tannins and saponins was confirmed by analyses from another study, which also used the methanolic extract from *B. antiacantha* leaves and [182]. With regard to *B. antiacantha* fruits, the presence of hydroxycinnamic acids and flavone derivative was detected in the aqueous extract, which was not structurally identified [194]. The characterization of secondary metabolites of *B. antiacantha* species using the ethanolic extract to quantify flavonoids and the hydromethanolic extract to quantify anthocyanins showed: (1) in leaf extracts, 1.68 mg/mL of flavonoids and 0.0 mg/mL of anthocyanins and; (2) in bract extracts, 0.43 mg/mL of flavonoids and 10.83 mg/mL of anthocyanins. The greater production of anthocyanins in bracts may indicate the effort in the allocation of energy by plants to attract pollinators, since the amount of flavonoids found in leaves, although larger than in bracts, is still insignificant compared to other species that are sources of flavonoids [195]. Analyzing *B. antiacantha* leaves, [196] detected the presence of saponins in the methanolic extract and isolated saponin daucosterol (**63**), which was attributed the hemolytic property of the extract.
